A Strange Meeting
by A very odd fellow
Summary: NarutoOne Piece xover. What happens when Luffy's crew lands in Konoha? Pairings: naruhina, shikatem in sequel, perhaps others. First fic please R&R COMPLETE
1. Don't Mess With Ice Sculptors

A/N: I'm writing this with a friend, and neither of us have ever done this before, so it might start out a little slow and choppy, but we will try to get better as we get the hang of this. This is a crossover of Naruto and One Piece, taking place in the Naruto world. There will be a lot of scene changes in this chapter, but those should decline as the story progresses. Please R&R

Thoughts - 'idiot'

Speech – "Ramen!"

Scene change ————————————————————————————

Chapter One – Don't Mess with Ice Sculptors

As the captain strolled out onto the deck, he noted that it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the sky was clear, there were pirates on the horizon, the water was— wait a minute, PIRATES! What were pirates doing in these waters? The Fire country guarded these waters from all dangers. The captain roared, "Weigh anchor! Batten down the hatches! Turn to port side!—"

"Sir—"

"Shiver me timbers! Thar she blows!—"

"SIR! One, weighing the anchor will keep us from going anywhere, two, battening down the hatches only helps during a storm, and as you noted at the beginning of this story, it is a beautiful day, and last but not least, the PIRATES are to the port side, we need to turn to starboard to escape! Now as soon as you exhaust you nautical vocabulary, we can get out of here." The first mate ranted.

"Fine, but it's so much more fun my way." The captain grumbled

Elsewhere, a certain blonde ninja was hopping around impatiently as he waited for the three minutes needed for the instant ramen to cool from the boiling water.

"One, three, same difference, right? Naruto shoveled the still boiling ramen into his mouth, at which point he learned just how much of a difference two minutes can make.

"H-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-T!" Naruto screamed as he ran through the village looking for something to cool his burning mouth. Luckily for him, there just happened to be an ice sculpting contest.

Five minutes later

Hinata was walking back from her early morning meditation, thinking about Naruto, as usual. "Naruto-kun" she whispered.

BAM!

Hinata felt herself bulldozed by a familiar-looking orange blur. As her vision cleared, she realized that the object of her thoughts was currently lying on top of her.

"Hey Hinata! What are you doing down here?"

Hinata blushed deeply. "S-s-sorry N-naruto-kun."

"What are you apologizing for?", Looking behind him, Naruto quickly jumped up, still holding Hinata's arm. "Oh well, let's get going. I think I have to be somewhere."

'Naruto-kun is holding my arm, oh please don't let this be a dream, please don't let this be a dream' Hinata's thoughts were all jumbled; the object of her secret affections wanted to go somewhere with her. "N-naruto-ku—"

"No time to talk now, let's go. Oh, and don't look behind you, no matter what you hear." Naruto told her, practically dragging her behind him now.

"O-ok Naruto-kun" Hinata replied as she struggled to match his pace. If she had been thinking clearly and looked back when Naruto mentioned it, she may have had less trouble keeping up with the blond ninja. For, not fifty meters behind them, was an angry mob wielding ice picks and hammers, and it was headed in their direction, fast.

Still elsewhere, a small pirate ship sailed into a hidden harbor. Unfortunately for them, it was occupied by the ninjas of Hidden Harbor. After quickly dealing with both of them, the pirates decided to make camp.

"Ok. We've arrived at another island in the Grand Line, and like—" A female voice started.

"Do you think there's meat here?" The captain interrupted.

Ignoring that comment, the woman continued, "—And like the last fifteen times, we'll have to find supplies—"

"Like meat?" The captain questioned.

"—While we scout the area for enemies. Two—"

"Can we get some meat now?"

"—Two of us will stay wi—"

Unable to contain himself any longer, the captain blurted "So is that a yes or a no?"

After beating her captain senseless with a familiar board that just happened to have some nails in it, She continued, "Two of us will stay with the ship, while the rest go ashore.

Five of the pirates left for shore, but not without a comment from the captain.

"We are getting meat, right?"

After Naruto and Hinata escaped from the mob due to an incident involving an ice cream truck, a telephone pole, and 600 feet of cable, the two were resting on the outskirts of the village in a conveniently located ramen stand. Hinata was absently fiddling with her first bowl of ramen while watching Naruto finish his twelfth bowl. She still couldn't believe she was with him; it was like a dream come true. Naruto noticed that Hinata didn't seem to be eating her ramen, so he commented, "What's wrong? Don't you like ramen?"

Hinata started from her daydream. "No Naruto-kun, it's not that …" she replied, blushing uncontrollably. "It's just —Naruto-kun, what's that commotion outside?" Hinata asked, grateful for the interruption.

"Uh-oh. Hey, Ramen Guy, if they're looking for a blond kid with blond hair, blue eyes, and scratches on his cheeks, you haven't seen him!"

"What are you talking about? There's just some guy outside running around like a chicken with its head cut off, yelling something about an invasion. Why would people be looking for you?"

"Uh, never mind. Forget everything I just said."

Naruto and Hinata left the ramen stand in order to find out what the hysterical man was screaming about.

"Hey you, what's all the racket about?"

"They've landed on the shore!"

"Who's landed on the shore?"

"PIRATESPIRATESPIRATESPIRATES!"

CONK! Thump.

The man slumped to the ground, unconscious. "Oops, I was just trying to get him unstuck, Oh well. Come on Hinata, let's go see if we can find those pirates he mentioned."

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't we tell Hokage-sama about this?

"Nah. Obaa-chan has enough to deal with already. And besides, no pirates would stand a chance against us, Hinata."

"Ok Naruto-kun, if you say so."

As Luffy and his gang unknowingly approach Konoha, they notice a pair of figures in spandex doing push-ups while yelling about the 'fire of youth'. Intrigued, Luffy calls out to the smaller of the two, "What are you doing?"

"We're training so that we may become stronger and increase the fire of youth within us."

"Okaay", Luffy replied, "Anyway, I'm Luffy and this is my crew of mmph." Nami had placed a hand over his mouth and finished his sentence.

"Merchants, we're his crew of merchants. Who are you?"

"I'm Rock Lee, and this is my sensei, Gai." The two simultaneously yelled, "JOIN US FOR TRAINING! I CAN SENSE THAT THE FIRE OF YOUTH BURNS STRONG IN YOU!"

While the rest of the crew slowly backed away, Luffy responded with an enthusiastic "ALRIGHT!" and promptly joined Lee and Gai-sensei.

The rest of the crew immediately slapped their foreheads with the same thought running through their minds. 'I hope these two aren't normal for the people of this island'

"Luffy, what ARE you doing, you dumbass? Zoro screamed.

Sanji swiftly followed that remark with a kick to the jaw that brought Luffy, who was still doing push-ups, to his feet. After a few minutes of air push-ups, Luffy realized that something had changed, for the push-ups were much easier than they had been. Zoro and Sanji quickly teamed up in order to drag Luffy away from the "Spandex Duo" before he could further make a fool of himself.

"Bye Lee! Bye Gai!" Luffy yelled as he was dragged off.

The group soon came upon a large wall. Luffy, being his usual self, catapulted himself over the wall with Gum-Gum Rocket. The last thing the group heard before Luffy went over the wall was "THE FIRE OF YOUTH IS WITHIN ME!"

A/N: This is our first fanfiction, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We will be coming out with the next chapter as soon as possible, but we will try to work in anything our reviewers would like to see, and we mean anything. Nothing is too crazy for us. We are thinking about having Kyuubi comment on Naruto's actions & conversations in a manner similar to that of Where Eagles Dare by dave-d. Read it if you haven't already; it integrates comedy and seriousness better than any other fic I've read. Please let us know if you would be interested in that idea. Please review!


	2. Unexpected Surprises

Chapter 2 – Unexpected Surprises

A/N: Thank you for eagerly awaiting this installment of A Strange Meeting. What? You just happened upon this story by chance? Well then, this must be your lucky day, for we are having a special offer: you get two read the first two chapters for the price of one. Now don't you feel lucky.

**The Gandhara: **Don't worry; the randomness will get toned down a bit in future chapters, but don't be surprised if it rears its ugly head every once in a while. Also this is AU, and here there just happens to be a harbor near Konoha. I would know; I invented it.

Naruto and Hinata were walking away from the ramen stand, talking about pirates.

"Hinata, what do you think the pirates will be like?"

"I don't know, Naruto-kun; maybe they'll be friendly."

"Pirates aren't friendly; they're ugly men that are cruel and vicious killers. Everyone knows that."

"A-are y-you sure that you want to find them, N-naruto-kun? T-they sound s-scary."

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I won't let them hurt you; you're one of my precious people."

Hinata blushed furiously. 'He called me Hinata-CHAN, and he said I was one of his precious people.' "T-thank you, Naruto-kun, but I wouldn't want to be a burden to you; I'll probably just get in the way since I'm so weak."

"Hinata-chan, you are NOT weak, you are strong. If anyone ever tells you differently, I'll kick his ass! Because I'm going to become Hokage, and then no one will be allowed to insult you."

Hinata blushed even deeper, which wouldn't even be physically possible for most people, but she was an expert, and had only reached two-thirds of her full blushing capacity.

"Naruto, Hinata, what are you doing here? Kiba called out as he ran towards them, followed by his trusty sidekick, Akamaru. When he got closer, he noticed Hinata's nearly purple face. "Naruto, what did you do to Hinata?"

"What are you talking about, dog-boy?"

"If I find out you did any thing to hurt Hinata, I'll feed you to the dogs" (A/N: Corny? You bet.) "Grrr" Akamaru growled.

"Oh yeah, the reason I came here in the first place. We're throwing a surprise birthday party for Kakashi this afternoon at 12:00 in the ramen stand conveniently locate on the outskirts of town, and all the rookie nine are going to be there. Make sure you are too."

"Woof" Akamaru confirmed.

"It's Kakashi's birthday?" Naruto asked, surprised. "Why didn't he mention that?"

"Well, since we don't know his real birthday, Sakura decided to throw him a party today."

"Why do all of us have to be there?" Hinata asked.

"We're gonna hold him down and beat him 'til he tells his age and real birthday" Kiba smirked. "Woof!" Akamaru added.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei is gonna get it!" Naruto yelled, throwing his fist in the air. He lowered when he noticed the strange looks people were giving him. "What are you looking at?"

"See ya!" Kiba exclaimed as he walked off. "Don't be more than two hours late!"

"Bye Kiba!" The two yelled back.

Naruto stared at Hinata, noticing how much she had grown in these past few years.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned, blushing under the object of her admiration's stare.

"Hinata, are you hot? Your face seems to be turning red a lot today."

Hinata sweatdropped. Same old Naruto. "N-no, Naruto-kun, I'm fine." 'Come on girl admit your feelings for him' "N-naruto-kun? Hinata asked, building up her courage.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?"

"The reason I'm turning red, It's not that I'm hot, it's that I really li—"

"—Hinata-chan, look out!" Naruto yelled as he tackled Hinata.

Hinata found herself in a position she had only dreamed of being in before this morning. For the second time today, Naruto was lying on top of her. "Wha—?"

SMASH

As Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp began to enter the village located behind the wall Luffy had gone over, they noticed a small ramen stand conveniently located on the outskirts of town. Zoro, noting the unconscious man just outside the shop, surmised that they served alcohol. He entered the shop and ordered a bottle of sake. Sanji followed Zoro into the shop, hoping to get lucky with the lovely waitress. Nami and Usopp followed the other two with the intention of filling their growling stomachs, and perhaps "finding" a few misplaced wallets.

"Did it hurt, my dear, when you fell from the heavens, for only an angel could possess such divine beauty as you, my dear." Sanji eloquently asked.

"Uhh… are you going to order something?" Asked the flushed waitress.

"You are far more desirable than anything on the menu." Sanji responded.

"Sanji, give it up. You haven't got a chance in hell." Zoro stated dryly.

"What'd you say, moron?" Sanji yelled.

"You heard me, asshole. What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm gonna shove your swords down your throat, that's what!"

"Ha! You couldn't even lift my swords, let alone shove them!"

"I can lift your ass off that chair!" Sanji screamed as he swung his foot at said anatomy.

"Let's take this outside, before I break this bar with your body!" Zoro responded as he dodged the wild kick, drawing a sword in the process.

"Fine!", Sanji yelled, before turning to the waitress. "I'll be back shortly, my love."

"Shortly? More like just plain short, after I cut you in half, you damn cook!" Zoro taunted from outside.

As Sanji ran outside to meet Zoro's challenge, Nami and Usopp quickly followed, hoping to prevent a commotion that would draw the attention of the authorities.

Just as Nami and Usopp left the ramen stand, the unconscious man woke up and, noticing the group, started screaming hysterically "THE PIRATES ARE HERE!

AAAAHHHHHHH!

This caught the attention of two young men and a young woman rounding the corner.

Nami quickly sedated the man before he could cause any more harm to their chances of obtaining supplies from the village. CONK! Thump. The man returned to the all-too-familiar feeling of unconsciousness. "Now before we draw any more attention—" Nami started.

"Hey you! Strangers, identify yourselves! Where are you from?" The pink-haired young lady exclaimed.

"None of your damn business!" Zoro retorted.

Nami smacks her forehead. 'So much for not attracting attention'

The raven-haired young man replied as he move his hands strangely, "I guess we'll just have to beat an answer out of you. Katon: Burning Blaze of Glory!

The pirates jumped back as fireballs flew from the young man's mouth in their direction.

Well, three jumped back. Usopp turned tail and ran back through the gate as soon as he noticed the fire forming in the young man's mouth. His mind barely registered another young man with a forehead protector identical to the three youth his fellow crewmates were battling.

A/N: The second chapter is finished! I only got one review for the last chapter, but since I got nearly 100 hits, I decided topost the next chapter anyway. Please review; I will update when I get enough reviews. I will continue to respond to every review for as long as I am able because I know I love to see that my favorite authors read my review and pay attention to it. The battle will continue next chapter, along with the answer to what happens to Naruto, Hinata, Luffy, Usopp, and the mysterious ninja by the gate.


	3. Luffy the Pie Merchant

A/N: Wow! Over three hundred hits, two more reviews, four favorite lists, and two alerts. This is going great. Keep up the reviews; they really help, if only in the area of my ego. The reason for the slightly longer wait was that I was in Daytona Beach Monday through Friday at church camp.

The Violent Tomboy: Awesome name; I love it. Could you please tell me how you came to call yourself that? Thanks for the review. Feel free to leave a longer one next time. Don't get me wrong; I need all the reviews I can get, but feel free to comment on anything, even if it has nothing to do with the story.

game2002: Congrats on having the longest review yet. If you mean "roots" as in keeping the characters in-character, then you don't have anything to worry about. I will be writing this story as long as someone reads it; the power is in your hands. Don't worry, Chopper and Robin are still with the boat; they'll show up later, although I don't know when. Thanks for the great review; as I said before, feel free to offer any suggestions.

Please R&R

Chapter 3 - Luffy the Pie Merchant

(Slightly earlier)

SMASH

Before Hinata had time to wonder why Naruto was on top of her (again), she saw something crash into the space she had been standing in just a moment before. As the dust cleared, she noticed a young man lying in the ground without any markings describing his native village. Hinata realized that Naruto was still on top of her. Deeply blushing, she questioned, "N-naruto-kun?"

Realizing his position, Naruto blushed as well, quickly getting up and walking over to the young adult to hide his blush and check if he was alive. Kicking the still figure, he called down, "Hey you! Who are you and where'd you come from?"

"Are you okay, sir?" Hinata added, still blushing. 'Naruto-kun is blushing too; maybe he's starting to return my feelings.

Springing to his feet, startling the young ninjas, the man yelled, "I'm Luffy, and I'm a Pi…" Luffy caught himself before he disobeyed Nami's warning concerning their identies.

"A pie?" Naruto asked, confused.

"A pie uh.. Merchant! I'm a pie merchant!"

"This is Hyuuga Hinata, and I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm going to be hokage!

"What's hokage?" Luffy asked.

"What's hokage! The hokage is the most powerful ninja and leader of the village!" Naruto responded, aghast that someone didn't know what hokage meant.

"Wow! I'm going to be king of the pi… merchants.

"Wow! Can we have some pies?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Who has pies? I love pies! Especially cherry!" Luffy responded, equally excited.

"Uh… You do Luffy-sama." Hinata enlightened the man.

"Oh, yeah. I uh… dropped them! Now I will have no money to buy meat!" Luffy lied, but not about his lack of funds.

"Hey, why don't you join us for lunch? I know a great ramen stand conveniently located on the outskirts of the village." Naruto excitedly said.

"Can you put meat on it?" Luffy asked, caught up in Naruto's excitement.

"Yeah! Pork, Beef they have all kinds of meat!" Naruto exclaimed, already dragging Hinata by the hand in the direction of the conveniently located shop as Luffy quickly followed.

Hinata didn't mind a bit. She just loved the feeling of Naruto holding her hand, despite the fact that he might not even realize what he was doing. 'Wow! Naruto-kun is holding my hand! Can this day get any better?' Hinata blushed at the pictures her mind showed her describing how the day could improve.

Naruto, oblivious as always, stopped suddenly as he noticed Akamaru in his human form fly past the street corner that led to the conveniently located ramen stand.

"Hey! What's going on here!" Naruto exclaimed as he rushed forward to examine the scene, still dragging Hinata.

The three youth came upon a scene of chaos. Sasuke was fighting some sort of samurai holding a sword in each hand and another in his mouth, Kiba was having a tough time with a well-dressed blond man, and Sakura had fought to a standstill with a young red-haired woman.

"My friends are in trouble!" All three suddenly exclaimed.

Naruto had just performed his trademark Kage Bunshin when he saw an arm stretch past him and clobber Kiba into a wall. He spun around just in time to see the arm return to its owner, Luffy. "Hinata-chan, go help Kiba and Akamaru; I'll deal with these freaks. (Turning to Luffy) I don't know how you did that or who you really are, but I know you're no pie merchant!" Naruto yelled as he sent clones after the blond man and Luffy.

While the man seemed to be having some trouble connecting with his powerful kicks, Luffy quickly disposed of every clone facing him with a Gum Gum Gatling Gun.

'This guy's unlike any ninja I've ever seen. I'll have to watch his moves very carefully and avoid his stretch attacks.' Naruto thought as he made more clones.

Naruto jumped forward and landed a solid hit straight to Luffy's jaw. 'Got him' Naruto thought before noticing that Luffy's head only absorbed the blow like a giant rubber ball.

'Wha—' Naruto thought before a Gum Gum Pistol to his jaw sent him soaring into the wall next to Hinata, who was trying to revive Kiba. Before Hinata could check on him, Naruto was back up, ready to go again. 'It looks like physical attacks have no effect on him' Naruto thought as he started charging up a swirling blue ball in his hand. "Let's see how you handle this! Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he shoved his hand at Luffy. Luffy quikly took Naruto's legs out with a Gum Gum Whip. When Naruto realized his opponent's counter, he released the rasengan early and therefore only blasted Luffy into a fancy Italian restaurant.

After waiting one minute for his opponent to reappear, Naruto entered the restaurant through the hole his opponent had recently made in order to discover the result of his attack.

A short distance away, Zoro and Sasuke were having a hard time gaining an advantage over their opponent. As Sasuke breathed fire out toward Zoro, Zoro countered by charging through it with his swords out in front of him, ready to cut down Sasuke. Just before Sasuke received three new scars across his chest, he blocked the attack with two kunai and jumped back. He realized just how that attack had come when he saw the upper half of the kunai drop to the ground behind Zoro. Sasuke realized that that he would have to use his ultimate attack. He clasped his left hand over his right wrist as he began gathering chakra. He charged Zoro, intent on ending this fight.

(Zoro's POV)

'The raven-haired young man is charging me with his hand out in front. Wha— his hand is glowing and making a strange noise.'

Chi chi chi chi chi chi chi.

'I don't think I want to get hit by this; I'll have to block it.'

(End POV)

The chidori collided with Zoro's three swords. The resulting explosion threw both contestants back, both sliding to a stop in the street some 50 feet away. Zoro tried to rise, but collapsed in a heap, finding his hip dislocated. Sasuke was too battered to even attempt rising again.

Shikamaru was just entering the village when he saw a long-nosed stranger run out of the village with a look of terror. Deciding to determine the cause of the young man's fright, Shikamaru calmly strolled in the direction the youth had just come from. Just as he turned a corner, he saw a huge explosion expel Sasuke and an man with three swords.

"How troublesome" He commented as he meandered back to the field to resume his cloud watching.

When he reached his destination, he noticed that the man who had rushed past him earlier was in his spot, gazing at the clouds with a far off look in his eyes. When the stranger finally noticed Shikamaru standing there, he greeted him.

"Hi I'm Captain Usopp. Who are you?"

"Shikamaru. You don't strike me as the captain type." He commented.

"I am too a captain. I'm captain of a giant vessel, with hundreds of crewmates serving under me." Usopp retorted, indignant.

"Okay, whatever you say"

Usopp started to tell him about all of his marvelous exploits as Shikamaru quickly tuned him out and watched the clouds."

A/N: Feel free to IM me if you can; my screen name is the same as my email address without the I would welcome any conversations with my readers.

Please review.


	4. The Restaurant

A/N: I apologize to anyone who did not leave a signed review. Apparently FF's default setting is to block anonymous reviews. Feel free to review now, for I have corrected the problem.

game2002: Yay! My first reviewer of multiple chapters. Although I love randomness, it shouldn't get two random as I will do my best for everyone to remain in-character. In case you were wondering, Robin and Chopper should show up in the next chapter if all goes as expected.

grilledjellyfish: Interesting name. Coincidentally, a fellow student at the church camp I attended ate a jellyfish, although it wasn't grilled. Thanks for the review; I'm glad you like the story.

Firehedgehog: grins, don't worry; I will. Feel free to comment on anything during your review; I enjoy a good laugh as much as the next guy.

raginghobo: Thanks for accepting my request. In return, I accept yours about the fruit. If we keep this up, we'll always have at least one review per chapter. Joy!

kitsuneofthedarknessflame: Nice name. Any relation to dragon of the darkness flame from YYH? I love running jokes, so expectto keep seeing them. I hope I can keep updating quickly enough for you. If you loved the restaurant, then this chapter should greatly please you.

Chapter 4 The Restaurant with the Strangely-Shaped Window.

Luffy flew through a building's wall. When he rose, he saw all the food anyone could ever want.

"WOW! Look at all this great food! I'm starving!"

As it turns out, "I'm starving" is the magic phrase to get waiters to serve you in a fancy restaurant. Luffy was immediately engulfed by waiters from all sides.

"Welcome to the Yondaime Café. Are you ready to place your order?" The waiters all asked, pointedly ignoring the fact that their new customer had just flown through the wall.

"Hmm… Well, I don't know what's good here, so I'll have one of everything. Wait! Make that TWO of everything." Luffy ordered, already drooling in anticipation of the wondrous feast about to commence, and completely forgetting what had led him to choose this restaurant(A/N: The FIGHT for you slow folks).

Just as the waiters started to bring out the 18 different appetizers Luffy had ordered, Naruto burst in screaming, "Luffy! Are you gonna fi—WOW! Look at all that food! Can I join you!" Naruto finished, incidentally also forgetting what had led him to choose this restaurant.

"Sure! I ordered two of everything!" Luffy answered.

"Do they have ramen!" Naruto asked, becoming more excited by the moment.

"I don't know; ask him" Luffy said, pointing at the waiter.

"We have 37 types of ramen and 43 types of spaghetti." The waiter supplied.

Clunk

Naruto fainted, then quickly jumped back up. "37 types of ramen and 43 types of spaghetti! That makes…" Naruto visibly thought hard for a few seconds, before coming up with "A LOT of noodles!"

"How many types of meat do you have?" Luffy inquired.

"We have chicken, pork, beef, bacon, venison, lamb, steak, ham, and many more. They can be fried, baked, broiled, barbecued,…" The waiter droned on and on as Luffy sat in amazement, and drool.

After taking care of Kiba and Akamaru, Hinata went to check on Naruto, whom she had last seen following Luffy into the restaurant. Before she could reach the Luffy-shaped hole in the restaurant wall, she was intercepted by the blond man that had been fighting Kiba 'Oh no. What is he going to do to me?' Hinata worried. She shouldn't have.

"What is a beauty such as yourself doing amongst this terribly chaotic group of brigands. I shall serve you and protect your wonderful body—"

SLAP. A hand print appeared on Sanji's cheek.

"Ah, the touch of your skin could soothe any injury; a touch of your bod—"

SLAP SLAP Two hand prints appeared on Sanji's face. Hinata was blushing, but enjoying this (A/N: The HITTING, not the being hit on, you perverts) more than she would have thought 'I wonder if Naruto-kun will ever try to be romantic around me'

Her daydream was interrupted by a loud voice yelling "Give it up already, idiot! You don't stand a chance with someone like her!"

"Shut up you ba—" Remembering the beautiful maiden next to him, he quickly finished,

"Bad man, how could you scar this kind young woman's day with such violence and profanity. You should be ashamed of yourself." Turning to Hinata he continued, "Please forgive my friend; he does not know the finer points of beauty­—"

CLUNK

A bottle hit Sanji upside the head. "I heard that!" A voice followed.

Sanji continued as if nothing had happened. "Please accept this flower as a token of my goodwill." He said as he produced a lavender flower from his pocket and placed it in her hand. "Farewell until we meet again, my vision of beauty" Sanji finished as he bowed low and walked away.

'Okaay, that man was weird. Oh yeah, Naruto-kun, I have to check on him.' Hinata remembered. When she walked over to the Luffy-shaped hole in the restaurant's wall, she was surprised to see Naruto sitting at a table with Luffy, both of them inhaling food at a tremendous rate.

Naruto felt a presence behind him. Quickly turning, he caught sight of Hinata before she could duck behind the wall. 'Hmm, what's she doing here; maybe she's hungry also. He thought. "Hey Hinata-chan! Come and join us! We have plenty of food!" Naruto called to the blushing Hyuuga.

"T-thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata replied, blushing as she took the seat Naruto offered her. 'Naruto-kun wants me to sit next to him!' Hinata thought, ignoring the fact that there were no other chairs at the table.

"Hinata your face is a little red; are you hot?" Naruto asked.

"It is a little hot, but that strange window provides some ventilation." Luffy said, pointing to the hole he had made in the wall not five minutes earlier.

"You're right; I wonder how they came up with the design for it?" Naruto responded, looking at the hole.

'Those two must be the only two people in the whole world who could go from strangers to acquaintances to mortal enemies to best friends in three minutes. Hinata thought. "I'm fine Naruto-kun; the heat isn't that bad." Hinata said.

"Hinata, you can have anything you want; Luffy ordered two of everything." Naruto told Hinata.

Hinata decided to test Naruto's feelings for her. "Anything? Even ramen?" She asked coyly.

"Well…" Naruto began, "Hah! Just kidding! Of course you can have ramen! But you'll have to share it with me." Naruto finished. 'Why did I say that; I never even thought of sharing ramen with anyone before. Why start now? Because I told her she could have anything, and I can't go back on my words, it's my ninja way. Yeah, riight.'

Hinata decided to test how true his words were. When Naruto reached for a bowl of ramen, she reached for the same one, putting her hand on his.

"Oh, sorry. I'll let you have that bowl." Naruto said as he tried to pull his hand back.

"But you said I had to share the ramen with you, and that's what I'm going to do." Hinata said, keeping her hold on Naruto's hand.

"You don't have to share your bowl—" Naruto started.

"You said I had to share the ramen, and that's what I'm doing. End of story." Hinata interrupted, still not believing how brave she was being.

"Okay, if It's alright with you." Naruto responded, wondering at her strange behavior.

Hinata was pleased he had given in so easily, and was surprised, in addition to pleased, when he adjusted his rate of eating to hers so he would not finish more than his fair share of the bowl.

'Hinata-chan is even cute when she eats.' Naruto thought. 'I never really noticed it, but she is actually quite pretty. Hmm…I hate silence; what should I say to her?' Naruto thought to himself 'Ah, I know' "That flower looks nice on you, Hinata-chan. It really brings out your eyes."

"What?" Hinata had completely forgotten about Sanji's flower, which she had tucked in her hair. "Oh. T-thank you, N-naruto-kun." Hinata replied, smiling and blushing. 'Naruto-kun complimented me; He's actually noticing more than my presence! Hinata was overjoyed. This was the best day of her life, and it was barely noon! 'I hope the second half of the day will be as good as the first.'

'She has a cute smile' Naruto thought. "Your smile is beautiful, Hinata-chan. You should do it more often." Naruto said blushing. 'What on earth caused me to say that. Now she'll think I've been hanging aroung ero-sennin too long.' He thought, looking down into his, no, their ramen.

T-thank you, Naruto-kun. Y-you have a wonderful smile as well." Hinata responded, her blush deepening and her smile widening. 'That time he complimented ME! Not something on me, but ME!'

"Really? Thanks Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, beaming.

Naruto and Hinata ate every bowl of ramen together, although Naruto had to finish more of the bowl each time. Hinata made sure she always got at east a bit from each bowl; she could never get full enough to not share food with her precious person.

Luffy, of course, was busy eating throughout the entire time, so he didn't notice anything except the arrival of more meat.

A/N: Hope you liked your first taste of Naruhina action. I'm still accepting any suggestions, so keep reviewing.


	5. Watch Out for Flying Bottles

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I was testing if waiting longer would bring in more reviews.And the fact thatI didn't have access to a computer for a week made itkinda hard to update. But I'm back now, so all you readers can rejoice. I have my own reason to rejoice, for I now have exactly 1000 hits for this story. Now, what you've all been waiting for, reviewer response time. If you didn't review, you can skip to the story, and make sure to review this time.

**Mimic12355:** Thanks for the review. Next time, make sure you spell the"the" and not "teh". Don't worry about it; I'm sure you were just in a hurry. I just don't like typos; feel free to mention any of minein your next review.

**Alien26:** Thanks for the reviews. Next time, feel free to just review the last chapter, but I'm not complaining about getting reviews. I agree about Naruhina, but my assistant greatly disagrees about the result the result of a Naruto-Luffy fight. I hope you liked our conclusion of the fight.

**warCaptain: **Thanks for the compliments. About your critiques, I'm working on it. Combat is my worst ability in terms of writing about it. POV is used in a lot of fics, because it saves time and energy in typing.

**lunarangel: **What a beautiful name. And a long review. I will now respond to your statements in order, one sentence per sentence. It will stay that way; although more romance will show up as the story progresses. You have no idea how chaotic it will get. I thought so too. Hope you like the conclusions to the matches. I bet they were also; Luffy had to think quick or suffer Nami's wrath (shudders). Of course, what else could they do when faced with all that wonderful food. I agree. Maybe someone should get him a napkin. And hard. Quite rare I'm sure, and I'm glad you're no pervert. I agree, and it would be pretty low; you deserve better, like me (just kidding; I'm no pervert, either). That's Sanji, alright. He had fun doing it. Naruto would either not notice or leave with her to keep Sanji from bithering her. Thank you for your permission; he may use it. What did you expect, he's Luffy;he noticed her, but he may not realize there was romance yet, but I'm glad you did.Okay, that's it. If you don't understand it, check your review.

**Firehedgehog: **Wow. that's the happiest review I've had yet.

**opcrazyman: **Thanks. My assistant is **OnePieceGenius109**.

**warprince2000: **Thanks. Sorry, my assistant is against any romance for Luffy, and he is the One Piece half of the team, so I have to respect his wishes for this story.

**kitsuneofthedarknessflame:** I agree; windows are amusing. A drop everything and eat attitude, eh? Sounds like my assistant. Tell me if you remember who Sanji reminds you of.

**To All: **Thanks for your kind comments. I really appreciate every review. So please R&R.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.

Chapter 5

Nami and Sakura stood facing each other, exhausted. "Wow, you're not half bad." Sakura commented. "Where'd you get a weapon like that?" She asked, pointing at the staff-like thing.

"That's for me to know and for you never to find out." Nami answered, now using said weapon as a crutch.

"What do you think happened to the others?" Sakura asked.

"If your buddies haven't already been totally annihilated by now, they will be when our captain gets himself unlost."

"Your captain got himself lost?" Sakura asked incredulously, reminded of a certain blond ninja.

"Yeah, he's a bit of an idiot" Nami responded.

"That reminds me of a certain someone in this village." Sakura commented.

"I hope I don't meet him; I don't think I could keep my sanity with another Luffy around."

"NAMI!" A voice yelled out.

"Speak of the devil." Nami muttered as she hobbled toward the area the voice had come from. Sakura followed, since she had nothing better to do.

"Sir, here is the check for your order." The waiter said as he handed the roll of paper to Luffy.

"Luffy's eyes bulged when he saw the figure. "Just a minute sir. NAMI!" When she entered the strangely shaped window, Luffy pointed at her and said with a huge smile, "She's paying."

Apparently, "She's paying" is the second magic phrase in the restaurant world. Immediately, large quantities of waiters swamped Nami. Nami noticed a familiar blond head in the flood. "Sanji what are you doing?" Nami asked.

"Sorry, reflex." Sanji replied as he went off to flirt with some of the lovely waitresses.

"Ma'am, here's the bill your friend left for you." A waiter said as he handed her something that looked like a roll of toilet paper with words and numbers on it.

"Thanks Nami; I owe you one!" Luffy called out as he left through a window that seemed to fit his physique perfectly. Out of the side of his mouth he said to Naruto and Hinata, "Now, run."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Run now; ask questions later." Luffy responded.

"Okay." Naruto said as he followed his newly reacquired friend through the strangely shaped window, dragging a blushing Hinata behind him.

'I just had my first date with Naruto. He may not know it, and we weren't alone, but it was a date nonetheless. Anyway, he shared his ramen with me; that has to count for something.' Hinata thought as she followed her love interest out of the hole the two had somehow forgotten they had created some time earlier.**

* * *

**

Gai and Lee had just finished the first part of their training session, and they were on their way to the next one, swimming laps around the harbor.

"One part down; twenty-nine to go." Commented the Spandex Duo. "Next up, laps."

"I WILL DO 100 LAPS WITHOUT USING MY LEGS!"Exclaimed Lee. "IF I FAIL IN THAT ENDEAVOR, I WILL DO 500 LAPS AROUND KONOHA WTH ONE ARM AND ONE LEG TIED TOGETHER BEHIND MY BACK!"

"I AM SO PROUD OF YOU, LEE. THE FIRE OF YOUTH IS STRONG IN YOU!I WILL DO DOUBLE OF WHAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN!IF I DO NOT FINISH BEFORE YOU, I WILL DO DOUBLE YOUR PUNISHMENT!"

Suddenly, the duo noticed that something was missing. "Hmm... Our usuual opponents, the Hidden Harbor ninjas, have not appeared yet. I haven't seen hide nor hair of either of them." Gai said.

"How will we warm up for our swim without a fight?" Wondered Lee. Just then, he spotted a small, foreign animal with a pink hat. "Maybe we can ask the owner of that strange-looking pet about the whereabouts of the Hidden Harbor ninjas." Lee commented, nodding in the direction of said animal.

"I'm not a pet!" Chopper yelled, facing the Spandex Duo.

"It talked!" The Duo exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm not an it!" Chopper screamed in indignation.

"It talked again!" The two were clinging to each other in surprise.

Suddenly, hands appeared all around the Spandex Duo, binding and gagging them.

* * *

"And that was how I defeated Arlong." Ussop tale of falsehoods describing the adventures of the Strawhat Pirates. 

"That's nice." Shikamaru commented, just as he had for the last seventeen tales. "Finally that troublesome noise has ceased."

"Huh? Oh that means the battle is over. Let's go see what happened." Said Ussop, getting up and heading toward the gate.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru commented, following Ussop at a leisurely pace.

They entered the village and were greeted by a scene of destruction.

"I, Ussop, Captain of the Strawhat Pirates, have come to save the day!" Ussop called out as he entered the village.

BONK

A bottle flew across the street and connected solidly with Ussop's head.

"Shut up. The battle has been over for a while." Zoro said from his position on the street.

"They must have known I was coming, so they ran in fear."

BONK

Another bottle crashed into the same place its brother had hit just recently.

"Nice shot; maybe you should switch from swords to bottles." Sanji said, strolling out of the restaurant.

BONK

"How many of those bottles does he have?" Shikamaru wondered.

"My guess is at least72." Sanji said.

"How do you figure?" Asked Shikamaru.

Sanji points to a sign that reads: Buy two 24 packs, get one free.

At that moment, three figures emerged from the Luffy-shaped hole in the wall of a fancy restraunt and started running as if their lives depended on it.

"Captain?" Ussop, Zoro, and Sanji wondered.

"Naruto and Hinata? Together?" Shikamaru wondered.

The reason for the trio's distress became readily apparent when a furious Nami appeared at the door of the restaurant.

"Now _that's_ something to be afraid of." Zorro commented to Ussop, who nodded in agreement.

Nami ran after the trio, intent on killing Luffy for sticking her with his enormous tab. Sakura followed a few steps behind her. 'Anyone that angry chasing Naruto can't be all bad.' Sakura thought.

Sanji joined the chase, but for an entirely different reason.

A/N: Hope you liked it; I should update much sooner this time. Feel free to check out my other fic, Changes. It is a SainFlorina fic, because there aren't nearly enough of them.


	6. No One Is Any Help Around Here

A/N: Sorry about the wait; I had a tough time getting together with my assistant and writing. School's starting soon, so I will do my best to keep the updates coming, but I can't promise anything regarding the time it will take. Now, onto my favorite section, reviewer responses! Yay!

**game2002:** As usual, my first reviewer. Glad you're pleased, you'll see what job I have planned for Robin in this chapter. Hope you like it.

**Soul's Eclipse:** Yay, a new reviewer. Glad you like it, keep leaving me reviews.

**Peter Kim: **Another new reviewer; I'm so lucky. About the pirates fighting, I prefer ninjas and my friend prefers pirates, so we compromised. That, and this story is about the Straw Hats befriending the leaf, so I can't have anyone seriously injured or dead. None of the Straw Hat Pirates' exploits have reached Konoha, so they know nothing about them, and vice versa. I don't know about Buggy and his crew, but my friend mentioned Smoker, so it's possible he and Hineta will show up.

**grilledjellyfish: **Not suicidal, just broke. Can you see Zoro wasting booze? I can't. He politely asked a civilian (the swords might have influenced the answer in the slightest bit). Sasuke is currently in dreamworld (he's unconscious). About Kakashi, late as always, but coming.

**warprince2000: S**ame review as last time but no comment. I hope you're not too disappointed about Luffy-Nami. I may do a Luffy-Nami fic in another OP-N crossover if I ever get around to it.

**kitsuneofthedarknessflame: **My favorite reviewer with more than 20 letters in her name. Hope you appreciated my review, I look forward to the continuation of your fic. Is Mari in your fic? I agree; throwing stuff is fun.

**Firehedhehog:** My happiest reviewer. Thanks for the review, you're always welcome to share the Pepsi.

**mI.ShOE: **Finally! Someone who appreciates the randomness.

Keep the reviews coming and I'll keep updating. Please R&R

Chapter 6

No One Is Any Help Around Here

When Kakashi finally made his way to the conveniently located ramen stand, he was greeted by a scene of destruction. Sasuke was lying unconscious in the street, and a strange man with three swords was at the other end of the street, using two of the swords as crutches and the third as a bottle opener. Kiba and Akamaru seemed to be alright, aside from the fact that they were lying unconscious beside the rubble of a building. There was a human-shaped hole in the wall of his favorite Italian restaurant. In fact, about the only thing that remained unharmed was the conveniently located ramen stand. Kakashi walked past all this and entered the conveniently located ramen stand to see why Sakura had asked him to be here.

"Sakura? Naruto? Anyone? Hey, mister, have any teenagers been here waiting for me?" Kakashi called to the owner.

"Well, there was a blonde boy and a Hyuuga girl here this morning, but I don't think they were waiting for anyone. Some youth got into a fight with some foreigners, and some guy was screaming something about pirates earlier. Hope that helps." The owner replied.

'Naruto with Hinata? How'd _that _happen.' Kakashi thought. "Thanks." Was all he said as he left the conveniently located ramen stand.

Kakashi decided that, out of his three prospects for obtaining information, the one that was conscious would be his best bet. "Hey, you with the beer, what went on here?" Kakashi inquired.

Swish. Kakashi dodged the bottled the man had thrown at him. "Leave me alone." Zoro said, opening another bottle.

"You don't seem to be in the condition to be telling me what to do." Kakashi said as he walked toward the man.

"Just you wait. When I recover _hic_ and sober up, I'll kick all three of your asses." Zoro said, waving his bottle opener in Kakashi's general direction.

Kakashi surmised that the man was drunk from his statement and the fact that there were two and a half cases worth of empty bottles lying around the man. This man was proving only slightly more helpful at helping him find out what happened than the other two. When he sees an older man lying in the street, he decided that this person would have to be more helpful than the man he just talked to. Unfortunately, he was soon proved wrong.

"PIRATESPIRATESPIRATESPIRATESPIRATES!" The man yelled as soon as he regained consciousness.

"Sir—" Kakashi tried to question the man.

"PIRATESPIRATESPIRATESPIRATESPI—" When the man showed that he wasn't going to be any help, Kakashi returned him to his original position. This was just not his day. Kakashi decided to use his last resort.

"Pukken, go find Naruto and Hinata, and I'll be right behind you. Is there smell any one else with them?" Kakashi said after he summoned the dog.

"Yeah," Pukken replied, "four other scents and one of them is Sakura's."

"Thought so." Kakashi announced looking toward the city gate.

* * *

As Naruto and Hinata followed Luffy through the forest, they noticed they were heading for Hidden Harbor village, if you can call it a village. 

"Do know where you're going?" Naruto called to Luffy.

"Yep, away from her." Luffy said with a giant grin.

"Sounds good to me." Naruto replied.

Hinata kept quiet, considering that she didn't care where she went, as long as she was with Naruto.

"You do realize that Hidden Harbor village is where Gai and Lee train at this time everyday, don't you?" Naruto told Luffy.

"Hey, I met them earlier; they're fun!" Luffy replied.

"Okaay." Naruto said. 'I've never heard anyone describe the Spandex Duo like that.'

As the trio approached their destination, Naruto noticed something was missing. "I wonder what Gai and Lee are up to? They can usually be heard for miles around." Just then, the group came upon a strange animal wearing a pink hat, a girl, and Gai and Lee. Naruto realized why the area was so quiet; Lee and Gai both had a hand tightly over their mouths. The Spandex Duo was, not surprisingly, keeping to their usual training schedule, just without all the noise.

"Hey captain, everything's fine here. How are the supplies coming?" Chopper asked.

"It's going great! You shoulda seen all the meat the restaurant we ate at had!" Luffy said excitedly, drooling at the thought.

"That brings up my next question, who are these two?" Chopper inquired.

"This is Naruto, and this is his friend Hinata. They're residents of the nearest village."

"Wow! I never knew Lee and Gai could be kept quiet at the same time." Naruto blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer.

"I got the ability by eating the hana hana fruit, although I can't say I've ever used it for this purpose before." Robin said simply.

"I need to find me one of those" said Naruto.

"What is your name?" Hinata asked politely, pointing at Chopper.

"My name is Chopper." He replied.

"And the fruit you ate gave you the ability to talk?" Hinata asked.

"That, and this." Chopper replied as he transformed into his larger form.

"Wow! That'll make people think twice about picking on you." Naruto said. "I like you two already." Naruto stated, "Especially you, anyone that can keep Lee and Gai quiet is a good person to have around." He said, looking at Robin. "Well, we should probably get going; you two are welcome to visit the village. Just tell Obaa-chan that Naruto sent you."

"Obaa-chan?" Robin asked, confused.

"She's the Hokage." Seeing her confused look, he added, "That's the title for the leader of our village. She looks young and has really large—" Naruto stopped when Hinata nudged him. "Anyway, you can probably find her asleep in her office." Naruto finished.

"We'd better go." Luffy said, looking behind him and starting to move away.

Naruto folowed his gaze. "Wait a minute, Luffy. I know something that might help." Naruto said as he started to form hand seals. Three Narutos popped into existence, one taking the form of Hinata and another of Luffy, then ran off. "If you two will point them after my clones; that should buy us some time. See ya later!" Naruto said as he grabbed Hinata's hand and headed off in the other direction.

'Well, one thing I can say about Naruto, there's never a dull moment around him. I wonder if every day is like this for him? It would be nice if I could be alone with him; I don't mind Luffy, but he attracts nearly as much trouble as Naruto, which makes it hard to have a conversation without it being interrupted by someone one or both of them angered. Maybe now that he is used to me being around, the chance might come up."

"Wow, that could have saved me from a lot of punishment. Which fruit did you eat?" Luffy said excitedly as he followed his new friends.

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter.Until next time(does hand seals) Review attraction no jutsu!


	7. Help! She Won't Let Go!

My longest chapter yet, 1403 words. Yay! Okay, now that that's out of the way, on to reviewer responses.

**warprince2000: **Well, you're certainly consistent in your reviews. Do you just review every story you like and copy and paste for each one?

**Blood red nin: **Thanks, randomness is fun, and it will continue to pop up every once in a while. Thanks, I will try to keep you satisfied.

**game2002: **Thanks for the compliment. I doubt any serious villians will show up, but some random sound nins could show up to get beat down.

**Peter Kim: **Okay, whatever you say. My assisstant says that this takes place just before the battle against CPU 9.

**Firehedgehog: **The Happy Reviewer strikes again. Thanks, I can always count on your review to brighten my day. In exchange for the plushi, here is a 2-liter bottle of coca cola. Keep going.

**kitsuneofthedarknessflame:** My long-named reviewer. Wow, you're getting almost as happy as the reviewer above you. In my experience, kinkiness is great for killing writer's block, but you'll have to try it for yourself. Thanks for the cookie; I loved it.

**thestoneox: **I don't know much about One Peice either, believe it or not. My assisstant is the one that does. Just for you, here is a summary of the characters: Luffyrubber man, Zoroswordsman, Sanjikicking chef, Ussopstory teller with slingshot, Choppershapeshifting reindeer, Namitheif/navigator with staff, Robinarchaeologist that can make limbs appear anywherein her range of vision. Hope that helps. The ages for the ninjas are somewhere around 16, it really isn't going to matter too much. The conveniently located ramen stand is a running joke, you will see it every time I mention that conveniently located ramen stand (see?). Thanks for the compliments, I really enjoy Family of Friends.

Well, that covers everybody. If you want to see your name in my fic, all you have to do is review. Enjoy the chapter! Please R&R

Chapter 7

Nami stormed into the clearing, followed by Sakura. "Have you seen Luffy? He was with two others wearing the same headband as her." Nami said, pointing at Sakura.

"Yeah, they just passed through here. They went thataway." Chopper said, pointing in the direction of the clones, which could still be heard running through the forest.

"Thanks. Come on Sakura; the quicker we catch them, the sooner we can beat them senseless." Nami said, making her way in the direction of the noise.

"Something seems fishy; even Naruto can be quiet when he's trying to escape trouble." Sakura muttered under her breath.

"You coming or not?" Nami called back.

"I'm coming!" Sakura said, catching up with her impatient friend.

Moments later, Sanji walked into the clearing. "Ah, Robin, pray tell me, did you see which way the lovely ladies went?" Sanji inquired.

Robin sighed. 'Might as well send him off on the wild goose chase as well. Nami is not going to be happy when she realizes what Chopper and I did, especially if Sanji catches up with her. "Of course, Sanji, they went off in that direction not three minutes ago." Robin told the chef.

"Thank you; I will not forget this service you have done for me." Sanji said as he continued his favorite pastime, chasing beautiful women.

(some time later)

"Where are they! It sounded like we were right behind them for a while, but now I don't see any trace of them!" Nami said, visibly flustered.

"Well, as I was trying to say earlier, Naruto's favorite jutsu is the Kage bunshin, which allows him to make flesh-and-blood clones of himself. I suspect that we've been chasing only clones." Sakura said calmly.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Nami exclaimed.

"I tried, but you were already running through the trees. Well, we might as well head back to the village." Sakura said, turning in its direction.

Sanji walked into the clearing. "Returning to the village sounds like an excellent idea. Allow me to be your escort, my lady." Sanji said, holding his hand out to Sakura.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked, a little surprised at the man's sudden entrance.

"Sadly to say, he's one of my crew mates. Pay him no mind. You were saying something about returning to the village?

"Correct. It's going to be easier to wait for them than to find them anyway. Who knows? They might be at the village right now." Sakura said.

"Well then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Nami said, charging off through the trees before turning back to Sakura. "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, but the village is that way." Sakura said, pointing in the other direction and starting off. "Didn't you say you were a navigator?"

"Shut up." Nami grumbled before following Sakura.

"Wait for me, my dears." Sanji said as he ran after the pair.

Pukken led Kakashi to a tree. "Here they are, Kakashi."

"Thanks Pukken; you're dismissed." Pukken disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi looked up at the tree and saw a stranger, Naruto, and Hinata. 'So my informant was correct; Naruto is with Hinata, and they're even holding hands. Sheesh, I was starting to wonder if he was ever going to notice her.' Kakashi noticed the stranger jump down and start back to the village. 'Well, I guess I'll follow him. Hinata has worked hard to be alone with Naruto; there's no reason I should mess with the situation.' Kakashi thought as he tracked the strange man.

Naruto, Hinata, and Luffy sat in a tree, watching Nami and Sakura go off in the direction of the clones. "Well, that takes care of them. What do you guys want to do now?" Naruto asked the others.

"I'm hungry; I'm going back to pick up our leftovers from the restaurant." Luffy said as he started back to the village. "You're welcome to come if you want."

Naruto and Hinata shook their heads. "No thanks, we're still full."

As Luffy headed off, Naruto turned to Hinata, "What do you want to do?"

Hinata was startled out of her reverie. "What? Why do you ask?" Hinata asked, trying to recover her composure.

"Well, you've been following me all day. I thought you might have something you wanted to do." Naruto said, unaware that he had fulfilled many of her dreams already.

"Well…" Hinata had to think fast to find something to keep her with her favorite blond ninja. "Would you mind just walking for a while, I'm a little tired." She said nervously. 'Naruto will never go for that; he prefers constant excitement. Now he'll leave, and in addition to that, he'll think I'm weak. Well, today was good while it lasted; it will probably never happen again.' Hinata thought, her face dropping with every depressing thought.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget that not everyone is a stamina freak like me. Hey, I have an idea; this will keep from tiring you further." Naruto said.

"What are you going to do—?" Hinata nearly yelped in surprise when Naruto picked her up and put her on his back. "What are you doing?" Hinata said in surprise, the blood already rushing to her face.

"You said you were tired, so I'll carry you, and you just tell me where to go. This will keep you from getting any more tired" Naruto said simply.

"Oh…okay." Hinata said, her blush starting to fade. "Well, I guess we can go back to the village to start." Hinata suggested.

"Hang on." Naruto said as he started off through the trees. "Hey Hinata-chan?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Hinata responded.

"Do you mind being around me?" Naruto asked, nervously.

"No, not at all. I like being around you." Hinata responded, a blush rising to her cheeks. 'Oh why did I say that? Now he'll go back to thinking I'm a weirdo.' Hinata thought miserably.

"Why?" Naruto asked suddenly, interrupting Hinata's thoughts.

'Here goes nothing' Hinata thought. She took a deep breath. "I guess it's because you never give up. And you're always so kind to everyone. And you always believe in me." Hinata finished quickly.

"Thanks Hinata-chan, no one's ever said such kind things to me." Naruto said quietly.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned.

"Yes, Hinata-chan?" Naruto answered, his grin returning.

"Why did you bring me along today?" Hinata inquired, interested in his answer.

"Did I do that?" Naruto thought for a minute, and then chuckled. "I guess I did, didn't I?" He chuckled again.

"What's so funny?" Hinata asked, once again thinking of the worst possible reasons.

"It's just that I realized that this is the longest time I've ever been around you, and it all started with a bowl of ramen." Hinata looked puzzled. "Don't ask." Naruto said, "You really don't want to know. I guess at first, I brought you along because I didn't want you to have to face the angry mob behind me. When you didn't protest the first time, I assumed you didn't mind, so I kept bringing you with me."

"Why would I mind?" Hinata asked.

"Well, it may come as a shock to you, but I'm not the most respectable person in the village." Hinata giggled. "I just thought that perhaps a member of the most prestigious clan in Konoha might be ashamed to be seen with me." Naruto said, his cheerful façade slipping for a moment.

"Don't ever think that again, Naruto-kun. There's no one else I'd rather be with than you." Hinata said kindly.

"Do you mean that, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked solemnly.

"With all of my heart." Hinata replied softly as she leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder and relaxed.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan." Naruto's grin returned. "Well I guess we'd better get back to the village. Wouldn't want anyone to think you've been kidnapped, would we, Hinata-chan?" Silence. "Hinata-chan? Naruto turned his head to the side and came face to face with the now sleeping Hinata. "Heh, guess she wasn't kidding when she said she was tired." 'She's so beautiful when she's sleeping; I don't think I'll wake her up.' Naruto thought as he quietly made his way back to the village. When he arrived at his house, he discovered a problem. Hinata wouldn't let go.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As a preview, I will say that there is going to be some naruhina fluff next chapter. As if that weren't enough, there will be a surprising revelation as well. What could it be? Just wait and find out!


	8. Hinata's Teddy Bear

A/N: School's starting, so the updates might be a tad slower from her on out. O well, we'll just have to deal with that. Now, on to reviewer responses.

**IMPORTANT: There is a new rule on this site that forbids authors fromresponding to reviews. There isa petition going around to try and reverse this decision. Any authors reading this, please send your pen name andtheemail address you use for this site in an email to either myself or raging hobo; our email addresses are on our respective profiles. Thank you.**

**kitsuneofthedarknessflame: **Ha, you sound just like one of my friends. If you keep screaming at it, maybe the writer's block will go away. Can't hurt to try, although you may get funny looks from anyone around. Yes, a flying hamster of doom! The deluxe version that includes the coconuts! Just what I've always wanted! Thanks!

**Silverchild of the winds:** Thank you. Is your brother older or younger?

**Soul's Eclipse:** I thought so too.

**lunarangel: **Yay, you're back! I'm not going to reply to everything you said this time because 1) it would take a loooong time, and 2) Frankly, I get confused reading my response as well. If you don't like it, you can tell me in your next review and I'll go back, no problem. Thanks for the (long) review, I read every bit of it, most of it multiple times (when I got confused). I wouldn't change anything about your reviews thought. My friend, raging hobo, and I always look forward to your reviews, and responding to them.

**The Gandhara: **Yes, my first reviewer has returned! Thank you, my thoughts exactly.

**Fire Blazing Chan S.E.: **Yes, Garra will be in this fic, although probably not in this visit. He'll show up in Luffy's second visit, which will either be a sequel or just the later chapters of this fic. I'm leaning in the direction of a sequel, but I haven't completely decided yet. Power to naruhina!

**warprince2000: **Hahaha! Consistent reviewer strikes again. (insert auto-response) Thanks, I will.

**Firehedgehog: **My happy reviewer. Here's the next chapter; enjoy your coca cola!

**soul-bandit**: Right now Sasuke is unconscious. He'll be waking up soon, but I'm not sure if he'll stay that way for long. I haven't made up my mind yet.

**KageSakura:** I like two types of Naruto fics, naruhina & naru-enemy. No yaoi. I'd love to see a multi-chap naru-enemy fic, and I'll make a formal request when I get around to it. It wouldn't have to be Kin, any female enemy would work for me. You can decide if you want. In fact, I'd prefer it that way, because I'm horrible at making decisions, haha.

**To All: **Thank you for your reviews. I read and take into account each and every one of them. Please R&R

Chapter 8

Naruto found himself in a potentially awkward situation. The girl who, he was beginning to suspect, might possibly like him as more than a friend was asleep on his back, her head on his shoulder, and he couldn't get her to release her hold. Naruto decided to do the only sensible thing he could think of. Very carefully, he cleared the clothes off his bed and lay down on his side. As he prepared to join her in slumber, the one thought on his mind was, 'Well, Hinata is certainly comfortable; I could get used to this.'

(Same time, Hinata centered)

Hinata had always dreamed of being carried by Naruto. The forest wasn't usually in the picture, but she wasn't one to worry about the specifics. What she didn't realize in her dreams was how comfortable Naruto's back would be. Soon enough, she felt herself being lulled to sleep. She tried to keep her eyes open, but she was fighting a losing battle. Her mind wandered as it always did when she slept. 'Mmm, this teddy bear sure is comfortable, although I don't remember having a warm teddy bear. I wonder what Naruto-kun would feel like? I'll probably never find out, but at least I can dream.' Slowly, the teddy bear changed into Naruto. 'Hmm, this is a change. Naruto-kun usually isn't asleep in my dreams.' She looked around. 'And I don't recognize this bedroom. Of well, at least it's a dream; I don't know if I could ever be brave enough to hold Naruto-kun, especially in a bed. I'll just enjoy it while it lasts; I hope no one wakes me soon.' Hinata snuggled closer to Naruto and drifted into a deeper sleep.

As Kakashi tracked the stranger, something tugged at the back of his mind about him. Suddenly, he realized what it was. That straw hat, he had seen it before.

(Flashback)

Two young men, one red-haired and the other silver, sat talking.

"So you're searching for a treasure? Kakashi asked.

"Not just any treasure, the largest amount of treasure in the world." The man responded.

"Sounds like a lot of trouble." Kakashi commented.

"Maybe, but lots of people are intent on finding it. I have a little friend who already dreams of being King of the Pirates."

"Sounds like someone I know."

"I'd say he has a good chance; he ate a cursed fruit that gives him the ability to stretch his body." The man said, chuckling at the memory.

"The boy I know also has an advantage, although the law forbids me from speaking of it."

"Sounds interesting. My friend's name is Luffy, what about your friend?

"Naruto."

"Well, I'd better get back to my crew before they start to worry about me." The man said as he started to walk away.

"Wait, I never got your name." Kakashi said, standing.

"The name's Shanks." He said.

"I'm Kakashi; nice meeting you." Kakashi said, sticking out his hand.

"Likewise." Shanks said as he shook the offered hand.

(End Flashback)

"Luffy!" Kakashi called out, revealing himself.

"What? Wait a minute, how do you know my name?" Luffy questioned.

"Does the name Shanks ring a bell?" Kakashi asked, just to make sure.

"Hey, I know Shanks!" Luffy exclaimed. "Although I don't think I've ever heard him ring a bell." Luffy tried to remember if he had. "Nope, I've never heard Shanks ring any bells." Luffy concluded.

'No wonder he was with Naruto; those two are like peas in a pod' Kakashi thought. "Never mind, you've told me what I needed to know. So, where were you headed?" Kakashi asked the young man.

"To finish off the leftovers of my meal from earlier."

"Mind if I join you? My group abandoned me."

"Not at all; although there's not much meat or noodles left." Luffy said with a frown.

"I'll survive. By the way, where are we going for this meal?"

"I'm not sure of the name, but it's the only restaurant with a strangely-shaped window right in the middle of the wall facing the street."

'Strangely-shaped window? I can't recall any restaurant in Konoha that fits that description.' Kakashi thought.

"Here we are!" Luffy announced, entering the Italian restaurant.

'The Yondaime Café? I don't remember any strangely-shaped…' Kakashi's train of thought ground to a halt when he saw the human-shaped hole in the wall. 'I know that wasn't there the last time I ate here.'

"Come on in if you're gonna eat." Luffy called out, already seated and digging in.

Kakashi gaped at the amount of food on the table. "I thought you said we were finishing off your leftovers." Kakashi said, still standing in shock.

"Well, I wasn't planning on having a guest; I hope there's enough for a decent meal." Luffy said, worriedly surveying the rapidly decreasing amount of food left.

"How much did you order?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"Only two of everything." Luffy said between mouthfuls.

This left Kakashi speechless. The only thing he could think of doing was joining Luffy in devouring these 'leftovers.' So he did.

Nami and Sakura walked back to the village, while Sanji kept up a constant stream of flowery speech. "My dear ladies, what's with the hurry? Why not enjoy this walk through the woods?" Sanji questioned.

"We might be able to if you would shut up and leave us alone!" Sakura said.

"Just ignore him. He isn't going to stop." Nami told Sakura.

"How could I, when two visions of beauty such as yourselves are in front of me." Sanji responded.

"Finally, we're here." Sakura said, relieved.

"Thanks for the meal, Luffy. It was delicious." Kakashi's voice drifted over to the group.

"Hear that, Luffy is right ahead. Let's get him!" Nami said excitedly.

"Sounds good to me; at least it should get us away from Sanji's flirting for a while." Sakura said.

"Hey, don't think I'm gonna let you two have all the fun. I enjoy beating on Luffy as much as the next person." Sanji told her.

"Fine, but I have first dibs." Nami replied.


	9. Confrontation!

I apologize for the long update time. With college, sports, beta reading, and reading, writing got pushed to the back burner. I apologize in advance if it should happen again. I hope not, but it is a possibility. I just thought I'd let you guys and gals know, this is most likely the second to last chapter of this fic. Don't worry though, I plan on writing a sequel, which will be where the ShikaTem comes in. Gaara will also have an important role, if all goes to plan.

**Important: There is a FFN rule banning authors from responding to reviews. There is a petition out to reverse this ruling. If any authors wish to sign this petition, please send your FFN name and email address to either myself or raging hobo via email. Thank you.**

Now, onto review responses.

**YaminekoHyousai: **Yeah, I agree about Luffy, but it was such a fun idea, I had to use it. Whoa, calm down. ShikaTem will show up in the sequel, and this fic only has one chapter left, so it shouldn't be long.

**lunarangel: ** Ok, here goes nothing. Yes, raging hobo and I enjoy your reviews immensely. Hahaha, teddy fox! I love it. Naruto and Luffy twins? It could be, if not in this fic, then maybe in my next. Who knows? I'm not sure on my favorite cursed fruit; I really don't know much about One Piece.

**game2002: **If by plot you mean action, then probably not much of one. This isn't a serious fic, although when I have time, I plan on writing a pure Naruto fic that will be. The romances will advance, albeit slowly. Hope that answers your question.

**The Gandhara: **Those were good ideas. I may use one of them if I ever go back and revise the story. Thank you.

**Silver child of the winds: **Yes, it is crazy that the boys are so alike. I have a younger brother as well; I like to beat the stuffing out of him :grins:

**Firehedgehog: **As happy as ever, I see. Naruto 'foxing out', as you so greatly put it, would be interesting. Enjoy the chapter and your pop.

**Fire Blazing Chan S.E.: **Thank you, many people like that part, so that means I'm doing something right.

**Firedude328: **Hm HERE YOU GO!

**warprince2000: **Still consistent in your reviews' content I see.

**Soul's Eclipse: **Interestinggreat, haha.

**kitsuneofthedarknessflame: **Band camp, eh? What do you play? The extent of my musical talent is being able to clap and sing at the same time, and that only happens on good days, hahaha. I sympathize about the internet. Vegas, eh? I'll get my people on it :dials phone: you should have your stuff back by morning ;-).

**OintmentJar:** Glad I could make you laugh. (Clap, Clap)

**Dragonien and Shikamaru: **Yeah, Zoro sounds so much better. On the attack and jutsus names, please send me any list you have via email; it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

**To All: **Thank you for the reviews. I hope you'll continue to review when the sequel comes out, although there is still one more chapter after this.

Chapter 9: Confrontation!

Something was interrupting Naruto's sleep. He was comfortable, more so than he could ever remember being. But the noise wouldn't stop, and it seemed to be getting louder and more insistent.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Naruto reluctantly slipped out of Hinata's grip, which had luckily loosened while he had been asleep. "Hold your horses; I'm coming." Naruto called out, careful not to wake Hinata. "What do you—?" Naruto stopped his tirade. "Hyuuga Hiashi?" Naruto was surprised to see the Hyuuga head at his door. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Hiashi?" Naruto recovered in time to greet the man in his normal manner.

"Normally, I'd tan your hide for such impertinence, but right now I haven't the time. My men reported that my eldest daughter entered this dwelling some time ago. May I inquire as to what you two have been doing?" Hiashi said, struggling to maintain his formality in the face of the village loudmouth.

"Oh, nothing much. We just slept together, and we could have kept going if you hadn't interrupted us. Whoa!" Naruto barely dodged a chakra charged punch from the enraged man.

"You slept with my daughter? How could you defile her in such a way?" Hiashi screamed, attacking with a flurry of punches.

Naruto replied while performing a series of hand seals. "Sheesh, what's your problem? Anyway, it's not like it was my decision; Hinata-chan was the one that started it. Kage Bunshin!" Thirty Narutos appeared, spreading out throughout the area.

"I don't have time for any more of these lies! Men, get down here and take care of this. I'm going to retrieve my daughter!" Three Hyuuga joined the fray.

"There's no way I'm gonna let you disturb Hinata-chan! She's completely exhausted!" Naruto didn't expect the head of the most respected clan in Konoha to yell so much. He was beginning to like him, apart from the whole trying to kill him part. Naruto created some more clones to deal with the guards, and prepared himself for a tough battle.

"HOLD IT!" Hinata's voice froze the combatants, and a few clones even popped out of existence, "What is going on out here?" Hinata demanded, not happy at being awoken from a pleasant dream involving Naruto.

"Hyuuga Hinata! How could defile yourself so? Men, retrieve her!" Hiashi ordered.

"You'll have to get through me first. I won't let you hurt my Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, moving in front of the confused girl. 'And they call me the loudest ninja; he's been shouting since he arrived, and all because Hinata-chan took a nap at my house.' Naruto thought, grinning.

"Defiled myself? What in the world are you talking about? Hinata did not usually act this way, but she was still groggy from sleep, and everyone else was yelling, so her sleep-deprived mind interpreted it as normal conversation volume.

"You slept with this, this, thing!" Hiashi accused.

"Naruto-kun is not a thing! Wait a minute, Naruto-kun, what did you tell him?" Hinata's fuzzy mind was beginning to put together what had led to this situation.

"Nothing! He asked what we were doing, so I told him that we slept together. Then he just went berserk, and then you walked out." Naruto was still puzzled at the older man's actions.

Hinata put her head in her hands in disbelief. Only her Naruto-kun… "Otou-san, you can relax now. He didn't do anything to me."

"So it's true? You did start it?" Hiashi didn't appear to be calming down.

"No!" Hinata was growing frustrated for just the second time in her life; most likely a combination of sleep deprivation and the two most significant men in her life fighting over a stupid misunderstanding. "Nothing happened."

"Huh?" Hiashi was now as confused as Naruto.

"Naruto was carrying me back to the village after our, uh, training session." Hinata said, coming up with a euphemism for 'running for their lives.' "I was exhausted, and must have fallen asleep on his back. Next thing I know, my sleep is disturbed by the sounds of combat outside." Forty-seven heads guiltily looked at the ground and scuffed at the ground (Naruto, the three Hyuuga guards, and forty-three clones; Hiashi considered it beneath a man of his stature to act in such a fashion, so he ordered one of the guards to do it for him).

* * *

Nami, Sakura, and Sanji were beating Luffy around like a beach ball. Luffy was having the time of his life, since none of the combatants were using anything sharp. "I'm glad you aren't using that board of nails this time, Nami." Luffy said, laughing.

"I knew I was forgetting something." Nami exclaimed, bringing said board out of its hidden pocket.

"Uh-oh. Well, I'd better go find Naruto; he's probably getting into trouble somewhere. See ya!" Luffy said, running off.

"LUFFY! GET BACK HERE! I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD THE CHANCE TO INFLICT ANY PAIN YET!" Nami yelled as she pursued him with a crazed look in her eyes. Even Sanji and Sakura backed off a ways, and they were on her side.

Kakashi watched the entire spectacle in his normal manner. That is, he read Icha Icha Paradise from the time he exited the restaurant to the point at which Nami's yelling caused him to look up. It was only for a moment, but that's quite a feat, nonetheless. Unfortunately for the copy ninja, Sakura noticed his small movement.

"Kakashi, what were you doing with him?" Sakura inquired, interested.

"Hmm? Oh, I knew his…" Kakashi searched for the right word. "sensei. In fact, we were quite good friends."

"Wow, it's a small world." Sakura commented.

"And for that I am glad, for if the world were larger, I might not have had the pleasure of making your acquaintance." Sanji said, kissing her hand.

Sasuke chose this moment to return to consciousness. His first sight upon awakening was a one of the men in the group he had been fighting. "Step away from her before I kill you." He said in a cold voice. Things did not bode well for Sanji.

A/N: The end of this fic draws near. Review while you can.


	10. Departure

YOU"RE LATE:cringes at the reviewers' accusation: "I got lost on the road of life..." LIAR! 'Sheesh, this is a tough crowd.' Well, if it helps any, I believe this chapter is worth the wait. It's nearly 7000 words, and wraps everything up quite nicely, if I do say so myself. There's lots of fluff and some decent comedy. My personal favorite was the ending; read through and you should see why. Please R & R; tell me if you agree.

Chapter 10: Departure

"Sakura, tell him how it is." Sasuke said dangerously.

"Oh, is this the lucky man who has your favor?" Sanji inquired. "For he seems far too cold for a flower such as yourself. How will you ever reach your full beauty with one such as him? You need someone with the warmth to help you bloom."

"You know…" Sakura started. This was gonna be fun. She could finally get some payback for all those years Sasuke had ignored her. "I think you're right." She finished with a smirk.

"What?" Sasuke exclaimed.

"My cherry blossom, do not worry. I will fight for your honor. Is there a token you'd like to give me before my fight?" Sanji asked, his face hopeful.

"Here, take my handkerchief." Sakura said, handing him the item.

"You have a handkerchief?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"I've always had a handkerchief." Sakura countered coolly. "You just never cared enough to notice."

"Humph. Whatever." Sasuke said, dropping into a fighting stance. "Let's get this over with."

Sanji charged at Sasuke, attacking with a flurry of kicks. Sasuke blocked each one, grimacing with each kick. 'Damn, I'm still weak from my earlier battle. And this guy's no slouch, either.' Sasuke thought.

"Heh, that was just to test your strength. Now the real battle begins." Sanji said as he started to charge again.

'I can't just stand here defending.' Sasuke thought, as he started a set of hand seals.

Just before the two met in combat, Sanji went off at a sharp angle.

"Wha-" Sasuke said, confused. 'What kind of tactic is this?' "You won't get away from me that easily!" Sasuke said, giving chase.

"Oww. Akamaru, what happened?" Kiba was just recovering from the beating he had received earlier.

"Woof." Akamaru replied.

"What do you mean we got our tails handed to us? Maybe you did, but I gave that guy a good fight. He just got lucky; too bad he ran off, eh Akamaru?"

"Ruff! Ruff!" Akamaru said, pointing down the street.

"Wha- That's him! Uh, maybe we should get a bite to eat first. I heard the conveniently located ramen stand is having a sale. Buy two bowls of ramen, get a bag of gourmet dog food free." Kiba said, turning to leave.

"Woof." Akamaru said simply.

"A wimp, huh? I'll prove I'm not a wimp!" Kiba retorted, turning back to face Sanji. "Hey, you, I challenge you to a rematch!" Kiba called out. When the blonde man gave no response, Kiba repeated his challenge. When he got no response again, Kiba turned back to Akamaru. "See, he's scared of us. He won't even—"

"Woof! Grr!" Akamaru told Kiba.

"Why should I move? That guy knows he can't handle us!" Kiba said, still basking in his "victory."

Woof." Akamaru shrugged, moving off the street.

"What do you mean 'I tried to warn you.'?" Kiba turned around. "Uh-oh" was all he had time to say.

BA-BUMP

Sanji had a puzzled look for a moment. 'Did I just run over something? Oh well, whatever it was, it's probably not that important.' Sanji shrugged, returning his attention to the task at hand.

"I'm not sure what this guy's doing, but I can't let anybody show me up, especially not in front of Sakura." Sasuke said to himself, concentrating on his quarry.

"Oww, that was a cheap shot! Running a guy over when his back is turned, humph. I'll never let that happen again."

"Ruff Ruff." Akamaru said.

"What do you mean, 'I wouldn't say that just yet.'?" Kiba said, brushing himself off.

CRASH

Sasuke tried to avoid him, but there wasn't enough time. 'Where'd he come from?' was his last thought before he crashed into Kiba and rolled to a stop in a heap.

"Bark!" Akamaru gloated.

"Shut up, Akamaru. I don't want to hear it!" Kiba said, irritated.

Sanji, oblivious to the chaos behind him, had finally reached his destination. "Please, I must have your name, oh wondrous vision of beauty."

"You again?" The woman's greeting brought Sanji back to his senses. Well, closer to them, anyway.

"Have we met? I should think that I would surely remember a beauty such as yours." Sanji said, trying to place her face.

"You were one of the pirates that kicked us out of our home!" The young lady accused angrily.

"You were one of the Hidden Harbor ninjas?" Sanji exclaimed. "How dare they…" Sanji muttered before taking her hand to his lips. "I will make sure to punish my comrades for distressing such a lovely lady."

"Oh!" She hadn't expected this.

"But enough about them, they are unimportant at present; let us focus on the two of us. Please, how would you have me address you?" Sanji inquired.

"Not interested." She replied, walking away.

"Ah, it seems that so many women prefer that title. And I have never been one to disrespect a lady's wishes."

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm on a mission. I need to get going." The woman said, walking off.

"I know; I'll help you!" Sanji said, following her.

"Ok, I've heard something about a fruit in the Hokage's office. It's rolled up and has words on it so it can be used by more than one person. Apparently, this fruit roll-up thingy gives the user that power Naruto used to avoid Nami. Now, I don't think they'll just give us such a valuable item, so we're gonna steal it." Two figures plotted in a dark alley.

Tsunade sat in her office, "Shizune, tell team Kakashi that I have a mission for them, and to get here right away."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Shizune bowed, leaving the office.

Naruto barged into her office, "What do you want, Obaa-chan?"

SMASH

Naruto flew through a wall of the office. "How many times do I have to tell you, don't call me that!" Tsunade yelled angrily.

"That hurt, O…respectable hokage-sama." Naruto congratulated himself on his quick save.

"Ok, no more messing around. I have a mission for you." Tsunade said, absently flicking a paperweight into Naruto's forehead.

"What was that for?" Naruto complained, rubbing the indentation caused by the projectile.

Tsunade shrugged, "I'm sure you've done something to deserve it. But back to the mission. You must round up all of the Straw Hat pirates. I don't like having pirates in Konoha, and there's always the possibility of them stealing the Forbidden Scroll, although the chances of that are admittedly slim." Tsunade looked at each shinobi in the room, noticing Sasuke's injuries. Before she could think too much about them, she caught a glance of a smaller girl who seemed to be trying to hide behind Naruto, her hand in his. 'Hinata and Naruto? Together? Had he finally noticed the girl that had been watching him all these years?'

"Bye Obaa-chan!" Naruto's voice interrupted her musings as he left to complete his mission.

Tsunade waited until the door shut, then immediately performed a sound blocking jutsu, "HELL YEAH! Naruto has his first girlfriend! This is cause for a celebration!" Tsunade rejoiced. "A celebration involving sake, of course." She said happily, getting up to leave her office and head to her favorite bar.

"Hokage-sama." One of the anbu poked his head inside, "You have visitors."

Tsunade sighed; she had been so close! "Show them in." She replied.

"Ma'am? We were told to come see you." The woman said hesitantly. "Naruto told us to tell you he sent us."

"Ah! Well, if you're friends with that brat, you can't be all that bad. Come on, I'm about to go get some sake." Tsunade said, walking out.

As they were on their way to the bar on the outskirts of town, an older man with long white hair appeared before them. "Oh no." Tsunade said, putting her face in her hands.

"Ah, a beautiful lady that I have yet to meet. Allow me to introduce myself.

"Here we go again." Tsunade said.

"I am the savior of everything exquisite! The protector of all things just! The dignitary welcomed in whichever country I choose to roam! A man among men! A magnet for the beautiful young ladies throughout the world! I am…Jiraiya: the legendary Frog Hermit!"

"Wow," Chopper said with stars in his eyes, "You're amazing!"

Robin sighed, this man was getting on her nerves. Suddenly, an arm appeared, covering his mouth. "Much better." She said.

Tsunade looked at her in surprise. "That was you?" She questioned. Seeing Robin's nod, she exclaimed, "You deserve an honorary celebration! To be more precise, one with bottomless sake bottles!" Tsunade said excitedly, increasing her pace.

Tsunade was about to enter her favorite bar when she noticed a man sitting outside with a case and a half of beer bottles. Now, if there's anything Tsunade likes more than drinking, it's gambling. So what does she like the most? Drinking contests! "Hey you," Tsunade went up to the man and nudged him in the side.

"Wha do ya want?" The man said, staggering slightly.

"I notice that you seem to like drinking." Tsunade said, "I challenge you to a drinking contest. Loser buys."

"You're on." Zoro said, rising unsteadily.

"Ok, here's the plan. You're gonna…" Two characters conversed in hushed tones. "And that will give me the chance to…"

"Heh, with everyone distracted, emptying this village's coffers should be a piece of cake." Nami said to herself. "Now, I just have to find out its location. Excuse me, sir, do you know where I might find this village's treasury? I'm the new secretary, but I seem to have gotten myself lost." Nami said sweetly.

"Oh, it's right next to the Hokage's office. It has a big sign; you can't miss it." He replied.

"Thank you, sir. Being late on my first day on the job wouldn't have been good. You have no idea how grateful I am." Nami said, a smirk appearing on her face as she walked away.

Jiraiya was walking toward his favorite "research" area. On the way there, he arrived just in time to see a blonde man get slapped by a beautiful lady. Jiraiya whipped out his notebook, scribbled a few notes, and then approached the man. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the famous author of the Icha Icha series, the Frog Hermit.

"You're the Frog Hermit? I never expected to have the honor of meeting you. I've read all your books!" Sanji gushed.

"I see that you're a man after my own heart. How would you like to join me for some research?" Jiraiya invited.

"Would I ever!" Sanji exclaimed.

"Okay, time for you to do what you best." A figure said from the shadows.

Ussop walked out, and started doing what he does best, telling stories. "Stop and stand in wonder, for the greatest hero ever to grace this earth stands before you."

"Who the heck are you?" A man shouted out.

"I'm glad you asked. I am none other than the legendary Captain Ussop!" Ussop announced proudly.

"Chirrup. Chirrup." Two crickets commented on the weather.

"What, you don't know of my accomplishments?" Ussop said, shocked, "Well, I guess I'll just have to take care of that.

"Who knows where that bunch of idiots could have gone? This is gonna take forever." Sakura grumbled, still mad that her plan had backfired. '**That bastard! How dare he leave me just like that?' **Inner Sakura was, as usual, more open about her feelings.

"No it won't! Hinata-chan's here; she can find them easily! Hinata-chan, use your Byakugan!" Naruto said excitedly.

"O-ok, Naruto-kun. I'll do my best." She said softly, "Byakugan!" She looked around. Hinata covered her mouth.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

Hinata blushed, but whispered in Naruto's ear.

Naruto laughed, "Don't worry, Hinata-chan, I know just what to do. After two and a half years with Ero-sennin, you learn how to deal with this kind of thing. I'll be right back. " Naruto said, sneaking off.

A few minutes later, a scream was heard from the hot springs. "PERVERTS!" A feminine voice yelled. A group of screams ensued, along with several loud slaps.

Naruto reappeared with the Sanji's bloodied body slung over his shoulder, both grinning madly. "You wouldn't believe how many times sexy no jutsu came in handy during my training with Ero-sennin." He said, laying Sanji down. "Now, which one of you wants to take him to Hidden Harbor?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke smirked, "It will be my pleasure." He said, roughly taking hold of Sanji and dragging him off.

"What's with him?" Naruto wondered.

"I have no idea." Sakura replied, whistling innocently.

"Oh well, not my problem. Hinata-chan, do your thing!" Naruto said.

"Okay." She replied, slightly more confident this time., "Byakugan!"

"Okay, so I put my hands like this, then this, then this, and finally, this." Luffy said, studying the Forbidden Scroll and performing the hand seals. "After all of that, I say Kage Bunshin! Ok, I think I have it." Luffy said.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"Oh, hey! I'm studying this fruit roll-up thingy right here." Luffy answered, motioning toward the scroll.

"Forbidden techniques, how troublesome." Shikamaru commented, "You know, you're not allowed to be here, right?

"I'm gonna use it to avoid a psycho woman on my crew." Luffy explained.

"Women, even more troublesome. Go ahead and finish, I can wait." Shikamaru said, closing his eyes.

"Okay, I'm done!" Luffy exclaimed a few minutes later.

"Well, I suppose I'm gonna have to take you to the harbor now. How bothersome." Shikamaru walked off, motioning for Luffy to follow.

"Ussop, come on! It's time to go!" Luffy called to his friend.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to finish the account of my adventures next time! Until then, so long!" Ussop waved goodbye to the crowd that had gathered to hear of his exciting life as captain of the Straw Hat pirates.

"I see Nami." Hinata declared. "She's over by the Hokage's office."

"Okay, I'll take care of her." Sakura said, running off.

Just then, Shikamaru walked up, Luffy and Ussop following him.

"Hey Kakashi! Hey Naruto and Hinata!" Luffy called out.

"Kakashi, Hokage-sama wants these two taken to their ship." Shikamaru said, tilting his head to see if there were any interesting clouds out today.

"Why don't you do it?" Kakashi asked. Shikamaru stared at him. "Right, too troublesome. I should have known." Kakashi muttered, gesturing for the two to follow him.

"I'm gonna go watch some clouds." Shikamaru said, heading off to his secret cloud-watching spot.

"So…" Naruto commented, "We're the only ones left."

"I-I guess so." Hinata said, wondering what he had in mind.

"Hey Nami, whatcha up to?" Sakura called out, walking up to her friend.

"Eh, nothing much." Nami responded, looking around.

"I heard you were looking for the treasury." Sakura commented.

Nami started, but quickly regained her composure, "Yeah, I heard it was an interesting sight." She explained.

Sakura did some discrete hand seals. "Well, Tsunade-sensei told me to come get you, but I suppose you have enough time to see it before you go. It's right down the street." Sakura said, pointing to a small building a little way's off.. "Just come down to the harbor when you're finished." She said, hiding a smile as she walked away.

"Heh, foolish girl. She's just doomed her village to poverty." Nami let out a small maniacal laugh, earning a few concerned glances from random passerby. She walked into the building, discretely picked up the only chest (this must've been a pretty poor village already), and walked out, whistling a happy tune.

Shikamaru watched the clouds float through the blue sky. Suddenly, his world went dark. "How troublesome…" He muttered. "Yes, Temari?"

"Aww, how'd you know it was me?" The sand nin asked, laying down next to Shikamaru.

"I didn't; I just guessed." Shikamaru said, smirking at her.

"Cheater." Temari pouted.

"Well, it not like there's anyone else around here bothersome enough to come visit me during my day off." Shikamaru shrugged.

"What was that?" Temari asked, her eyes glinting dangerously.

"I didn't say anything." Shikamaru tried his best to look innocent.

Temari slid closer to the strategist. "So, what's been going on since I last saw you?"

"Nothing too important; I've been on missions, watching clouds, and entertaining visiting pirate crews." Shikamaru answered, using his hands as a cushion for his head.

"Pirates, eh? They cause any trouble?" Temari slid an arm underneath Shikamaru's neck.

Shikamaru looked at her, shrugged, then continued, "Nah, not really. One of them found our Forbidden Scroll, but he was only using it to learn the Kage Bunshin to avoid beatings from a woman on his crew, so I didn't mind."

Temari rolled over so she was above Shikamaru, "You wouldn't ever do that to me, would you?" She asked, looking down on him.

"Hey, I can't see the clouds." Shikamaru complained.

"Is that a problem?" Temari countered, leaning down to kiss him on the lips.

"Is what a problem?" Shikamaru replied, looking into the eyes of the beautiful woman above him.

"That's what I thought." Temari grinned at his reply.

"I had a great day!" Naruto exclaimed, "What about you, Hinata?"

"Any day with you is great." Hinata said softly.

"You think so?" Naruto asked, looking at her closely.

Hinata blushed; she hadn't meant for him to hear that. "Y-yeah, I love you, I mean being around you." Hinata recovered quickly.

"Hmm, I have an idea." Naruto said, thinking for a minute, "Yeah, I think we have time. Hop on, Hinata-chan." He said, motioning for her to get on his back. "I have something to show you."

"O-ok, Naruto-kun." She said, grabbing a hold of his neck. "Is this okay?"

"Perfect." Naruto said, grabbing hold of her legs. "Hold on tight; we wouldn't want you to fall, now would we?" He said with a grin.

"I-I guess not." Hinata replied, blushing at her proximity to her precious one's face. 'And body.' A part of her thought.

"Of course not!" Naruto exclaimed, "It would completely negate the purpose of taking you to a romantic spot!" Naruto said, then covered his mouth, "Forget I ever said that last part." He commanded her.

Hinata just smiled. 'A romantic spot! With just the two of us!' She thought excitedly, nearly fainting at the thought.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked, thinking that maybe he was having second thoughts about taking her to this romantic place.

"Well, it won't be near as fun if it isn't a surprise. You have to close your eyes." He told her seriously. "And I mean it; if you peek, I'll take you straight to the harbor." He said as he started once again.

'Point taken." Hinata said, closing her eyes. 'Maybe I can use the Byakugan.'

"And no using the Byakugan either." Naruto told her.

"Oh, fine." Hinata pouted.

"Almost there." Naruto alerted her. "Okay…now."

Hinata gasped. She couldn't believe the sight before her eyes. They were _in_ Hokage Mountain. Naruto had carried her to a cave between the faces of the Yondaime and Godaime Hokages. The setting sun lent the cool rock some of its warmth, leaving the cave at a temperature just cooler than the outside. The cave took on the colors of the sunset as well, turning brilliant shades of orange and purple as the last moments of the day passed.

"Do you like it?" Hinata could only nod. "I found it one day after a particularly good prank." Naruto scratched the back of his head by instinct, softly brushing Hinata's cheek in the process. "Heh, I sorta got carried away, so I had to lie low for a couple of days. Let's just say, the Hyuuga elders will never be as respected as before that day. It's hard to be taken seriously when you have a banana in each ear."

Hinata laughed, "I think I remember that; in fact, I wondered why they canceled all the scheduled meetings that day. I wish I could have seen that."

"Really? I've got pictures." Naruto said, bringing out his froggy purse.

Hinata looked over them, laughing, "This helps explain some of their recent rulings." She said. "I wondered why they ordered three hundred cartons of ramen noodles along with every conceivable topping."

"Heh, you would believe how much you can accomplish through blackmail." Naruto grinned, "Next time they put you down, threaten to call me. They should back off." Naruto said confidently.

"Mwahaha, while everyone is seeing those stupid pirates off, I'll take over Konoha." A shadowy figure said. "They'll never see it coming."

Sasuke dragged Sanji to the edge of the village, where he saw Tsunade staring down the man he had fought earlier. "Hokage-sama, get away from him; he's dangerous!" Sasuke exclaimed, leaving Sanji in the middle of the street.

"Go away." Tsunade said, flicking him into a nearby wall. "I'm about to win this contest." She continued, downing a glass of sake.

"Ha! You wish! I'm just getting warmed up!" Zoro replied, refilling his own glass and downing it.

Tsunade reached for her glass, taking a few seconds to find the correct image.

"Yo." Kakashi appeared with Luffy and Ussop in a puff of smoke.

"Wow, that was amazing! Did you see that?" Luffy exclaimed, "We were like POOF!" He continued, gesturing wildly with his arms.

"Of course." Ussop told him, "How do you think I beat the Giant Goldfish of San Juan?"

Chopper started to respond, but a commotion interrupted him.

Nami walked up, hiding something behind her back. "Well, everyone's here; I guess it's time to go." She said, shooing everyone toward the harbor.

"Hey, we're not finished." Tsunade and Zoro grumbled, not happy in the least that they were moving away from their sake.

"There's a crate of sake on the ship." Nami lied.

The pair vanished before she finished her sentence.

Nami looked at Sanji's battered form, "Now just what have you been up to?" Nami asked

"I have been thinking of you the whole time, Nami-san." Sanji professed to her.

"He means he was doing "research" with Jiraiya." Sasuke, already recovered from his intimate moment with the wall, informed the woman.

"Hmm?" Nami asked the raven-haired man. Before she could inquire further about the nature of this "research", an answer came through a different medium.

"There he is!" A girl exclaimed.

Sanji's face paled, "Please…Nami." He begged.

Nami smirked, stepping away, "I'm sure you earned whatever these girls have in store for you."

Sakura walked up beside Sanji, "Pervert!"

SLAP

Kurenai wasn't far behind her, "I can't stand men like you."

SLAP

Ten-ten.

SLAP

Ino.

SLAP

Anko.

CENSORED

The female Hidden Harbor ninja.

SLAP

Shizune.

SLAP

Moegi.

SLAP

Random female citizen.

SLAP

More random female citizens.

SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP.

Nami.

SLAP

"What, you too?" Sanji cried.

Nami just shrugged, "I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on anything."

SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP.

Hands appear all over around Sanji, slapping him around for a few minutes before disappearing to whence they came.

Nami raised an eyebrow at Robin, who whistled innocently.

"Hey, I wonder what's going on up there." Temari dragged Shikamaru to the large group of girls.

"Tch." Looks troublesome." He replied, letting her lead him on anyway. "But trying to keep you from checking it out would be even more troublesome."

"They don't call you a super-genius for nothing." Temari responded, "Ooh, they're beating some guy to a pulp. Let's help." Temari grinned widely.

"Better him than me." Shikamaru assented.

Temari walked up to the man and removed her fan from her back, "I hope you don't hold this against me."

"How could I ever hold anything against a maiden of exquisite loveliness such as yourself?" Sanji replied.

THWACK

Shikamaru cringed at the sight of the stranger slumping to the ground.

"So, where were we?" Temari smiled at Shikamaru, returning her fan to its place.

"You were just saying you love me and how you will never do that to me." Shikamaru answered, putting his arm around the older girl.

"I don't remember saying that." Temari said, kissing him lightly on the lips, "But that sounds about right."

Nami looked at Sanji, who hadn't yet recovered from the final blow. "Well, if he's not going to get up, I'm certainly not going to carry him. He can come to the ship when he decides to recover." She said, motioning for Chopper and Robin to follow her out of the village.

Sanji rubbed his head, "That last girl had one hell of a heavy fan." He muttered, massaging the spot where said object had connected with his skull. He noticed Nami and Robin walking in the distance, "Wait for me, my beautiful blossoms!"

"Bye everybody!" Luffy waved enthusiastically. Unfortunately, his wild waving caused his arm to stretch, nailing Nami right in the face.

"Why you!" Nami yelled, bringing out her nail-covered board.

"Ha, I'm ready for you this time." Luffy went through a set of seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke enveloped the ship.

"Your little smoke screen won't help for long!" Nami said, preparing her board.

When the smoke cleared, Luffys could be seen from bow to stern.

"I think I might have drunk a little too much." Zoro said, swaying slightly, "So many Luffys…"

"Ha! Try to find me now!" Luffy said triumphantly.

"Well Luffy, I guess you don't need my services anymore." Nami said.

"How do you figure?"

Because you don't need a navigator to guide a SINKING SHIP! Even you can figure out it's going DOWN!"

"AHHH! WE'RE SINKING!" The Luffys screamed, running around randomly. Of course, due to the lack of available running room, the pretty much just ran into each other and the crew.

"Hundreds of Luffys, still less than one brain." Nami muttered.

"Luffy, get rid of these guys right now!" Robin commanded.

"I didn't get to that part of the fruit roll-up thingy!" Luffy cried.

Well, there's only one thing to do. Beat them until they disappear." Nami said, striking out at a clone that had the misfortune to be standing next to her. "Come on everybody, join in. It's fun." She said, taking out a few more clones.

Zoro unsheathed his swords, stumbling slightly, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment." He slurred, slashing one clone after another.

Chopper transformed, "Wheee! Time to smash Luffy!"

"You guys don't have to enjoy this so much." Luffy commented.

"Maybe not, but it makes it so much more entertaining." Sanji replied, kicking a clone into a couple more and watching them poof out of existence.

Nami swung her board at another Luffy, "Ow! Hey, I'm not a clone!" He protested.

"I know." Nami grinned evilly as she continued to assault him. "Found him!" he called out to the others.

"Those clones were just a warm-up. Now it's time for the real-thing." They said, surrounding him.

"Why me…?" Luffy complained as they started to knock him around like a ping pong ball.

Once the ship was a way's out to sea, Nami started laughing, "I wonder how long it will take those fools to realize I robbed them clean."

"What are you talking about?" The rest of the crew asked her, looking at each other in confusion.

"Yeah, I put it right here." Nami said, uncovering her chest (TREASURE chest, you perverts!)

"RAMEN!" Luffy exclaimed, snatching the carton and running to the kitchen. "Sanji!" He called, "Prepare some meat for the ramen!"

"WHAT? HOW?" Nami screamed, sinking to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

Sakura laughed.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Nami was looking for the treasury, so I cast a simple genjutsu on her to make her think she was seeing the treasury. Instead of the treasure chest she thought she was stealing, she took a carton of ramen." Sakura couldn't continue through her laughter.

"Haha-wait, an entire CARTON?" Naruto exclaimed, "How could you do this to me? What if that was their last carton? I'll have to wait for the next shipment to come in before I can get more ramen!" Naruto clung to Hinata.

Hinata blushed, letting him hug her. This was the perfect end of the perfect day. But it wasn't over yet.

Naruto's face suddenly brightened, "Hinata-chan, I have an idea!" Naruto told her excitedly.

"It's a miracle!" Sakura announced.

Naruto went on, undeterred by Sakura's comment, "We can eat ramen at your house!" He said, motioning for her to get on his back.

Hinata did so, blushing again. She had spent the entire day with Naruto, and now they were going to her house!

Naruto jumped from tree to tree, maneuvering his way to the Hyuuga complex. The guards noticed the pair, but took no action.

"Now why aren't we supposed to chase the demon child out anymore?" One of the guards asked.

His partner shrugged, "Those were the orders given by the Elders. Personally, I think they're going a little senile. Maybe it's time for some of the Elders to become ancestors, if you know what I mean." He said, nudging his friend. The two guards shared a small chuckle, continuing on their rounds.

"Hinata, I have come in peace. Take me to your feeder." Naruto said, looking around.

"My feeder?" Hinata looked at Naruto skeptically.

"What? I couldn't think of anything else to rhyme with 'leader' and still make sense." Naruto said.

Hinata laughed, "Our 'feeder' is the third house on the left." She told him.

"An entire house? Hinata, you're awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, sprinting the last hundred meters.

Hinata blushed (actually, she just never unblushed from the previous blush); his openness was another one of his traits she admired.

"What flavor would you like?" Hinata asked, putting the water on the stove to boil.

"Hmm…" Naruto mused, sorting through the cabinets, removing a package every once in a while. "Ok, I think that's it." Naruto brought the stack of items over to the stove. "Thanks for preparing the water, Hinata. I think I can take it from here, if you don't mind."

"Ano…Is there anything I can do to help?" Hinata asked slowly.

"Hmm…I don't think this pot is going to be big enough." Naruto said, looking at it closely.

"Oh, okay. I'll get a bigger…pot?" Hinata ceased her search when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Naruto?" She asked, her face reaching a new level of red.

"Nah, just get another…Are you alright Hinata?" Naruto said, putting a hand to her cheek, "You're quite warm. We had better get you to your room. It's a good thing we're close. Don't get up; I'll take you there." Naruto said, picking her up bridal style.

Hinata promptly fainted.

Now, as everyone (except Naruto) already knows, Hinata has loved Naruto for a long time. She may be too shy to do anything about it, but that doesn't mean she never dreams about someday being able to hold her Naruto-kun. She was having one of those dreams right now.

"Naruto-kun…" She mumbled, latching onto her dream boy.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked down at her. "This seems familiar; does she always cling to something when she sleeps?" Naruto questioned.

"Only when she dreams about a certain someone." A voice informed him.

"Oh, hey Neji! How's life treating you?" Naruto asked, turning toward his friend.

Neji smirked, "Well enough." He said walking off, "Oh, by the way, Hinata lives right over there." He told Naruto, pointing at a small house nearby.

"Heh, I guess I would need to know that." Naruto grinned, "Thanks, Neji."

"I just didn't want you to bother everyone in the compound trying to find it. Not everyone would be as understanding as me if they saw you with Hinata." Neji said.

"That's what you think." Naruto said mysteriously before laughing and entering Hinata's house.

Naruto set her down lightly on her bed. As he expected, her hold on him was as firm as ever. He found himself staring at the face of the Hyuuga heir. Neji's words came back to him. "Could I…be that person? But why?" Naruto pondered the point for a moment before hesitantly returning Hinata's embrace.

Hinata smiled, a faint blush tinting her face. "I love you too, Naruto-kun."

"I'm thinking we're going to have some things to talk about when she wakes up." Naruto smiled at the unconscious girl.

Tsunade stumbled into her office. "Why do I have to do paper work? I should be sleeping."

"Hahaha, you're too late to stop my sinister plan!" A dark figured exclaimed.

"Wha?" Tsunade wasn't exactly thinking straight. 48 shots of sake will do that to a person. "Why are you in my office?"

"Mwahaha, I am the new ruler of Konoha! Bow to me!" The figure commanded.

"Go away; I want to sleep." Tsunade said, lightly flicking the young man over the village walls.

"Blast! Foiled again!" The man yelled as he flew off into the sunset.

"Much better." Tsunade mumbled, clearing a space on her desk before laying her head down.

"3…2…1…Now." A young woman counted off.

CRASH

When the dust settled, she walked over to the small cater and kicked at the prostrate form in the center. "I told you your plan wouldn't work. Come on Kazuki; get up." She told him, offering a hand.

"It could have worked." He insisted, taking her hand. Suddenly, he yanked on it, bringing her down on top of him. "But that doesn't matter, as long as you're with me." He whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Ooh, somebody's frisky." The woman placed her hands over his.

"Is that a problem?" Kazuki purred.

"Did I say that?" She replied innocently.

"Would it matter if you did?" He countered.

"Yes, because you always listen to me." She said confidently.

"It's not fair; I just can't resist your beautiful bod-I mean, personality." He recovered quickly.

But not quickly enough. "What was that?" She said dangerously.

"Nothing, Moriko, nothing at all." Kazuki said, trying to look innocent.

"What were you going to say?" Moriko looked at him closely, "Tell the truth; you know how much I hate lying."

"I said I can never resist your beautiful body, which is second only to your charm." He said, searching for possible escape routes.

"Kazuki…" She said, getting a tighter grip on his hands, "Normally I'd hurt you for such a comment. But…"

"But?" Kazuki's face lit up.

"But…" Moriko turned around, moving his hands to her shoulders, "You're not the only one that's feeling frisky." She said, giving him a lingering kiss.

"Mmm, must be my lucky day." Kazuki said, pulling her in for a deeper kiss.

Hinata was having the best day of her life. Naruto had just professed his love for her, and it was everything she had ever dreamed it would be. Suddenly, she realized the reason for that; it _was_ all just a dream. She opened her eyes, barely able to keep the tears from escaping her eyes. She knew it probably wasn't possible, let alone likely; he still hadn't noticed her after all these years. This was just like every other time she had woken from that dream; she didn't know why she expected anything to be different this time. Yet there was. A note lay on the pillow next to her head.

It read: Hinata, meet me on your roof when you read this.

Hinata turned it over, but there was no signature.

She walked leaned out of her window, flipping upwards to land lightly on her roof, unsure of what to expect. She saw Naruto sitting on the opposite edge, dangling his feet off the edge.

"Hey Hinata-chan, grab a seat." Naruto said, patting the spot next him. "There's something we have to talk about."

"W-what's that, N-naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, fearing as she sat down that being around her so much today had caused him to think less of her than he already did.

Naruto closed the rest of the distance between the two, "I have a personal question to ask you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Ano…" Hinata pushed her fingers together, suddenly finding the ground below to be of extreme interest.

"Hinata-chan…" Naruto turned the pale girls face so he could look into her lavender eyes, "You were talking in your sleep."

Hinata's face paled; her dreams had involved a certain blonde ninja today, even more so than usual. "W-what d-did I-I s-s-s-say?" Hinata barely managed to ask.

"You said, 'I love you too, Naruto-kun.'" He told her slowly.

"Eek!" Hinata squeaked, hiding her face in her hands. 'Of all the times I could let that slip, why'd it have to be in front of him? Now he's gonna still think I'm a weirdo, just to a greater extent.'

"Is that true, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked slowly, gently taking her hands away from her face.

'You don't have to tell him!' A part of her mind insisted, 'He said as much when you sat down!' Yet Hinata couldn't even consider that option. She knew that no matter how much easier it would be for her to run away without answering, doing so would hurt her Naruto-kun infinitely more so. She steeled her nerves and prepared for the rejection she just knew was forthcoming, "It's true. I've always loved you. Ever since our days in the academy." She said, her calm voice concealing the raging emotions she was feeling at the moment.

"Wow." Naruto said, shaking his head, "That's a long time."

"Yeah…" Hinata agreed.

"And I never noticed?" Naruto asked.

"Apparently." Hinata replied.

"I must be the densest person alive." Naruto shook his head again.

"Quite possibly," Hinata smiled, "but that's just another of the traits I love about you."

"You've loved me for all this time?" Naruto was still in shock.

"Yes."

"And I hardly noticed you." Naruto's face fell.

"But I treasured every moment you did." Hinata tried to cheer him up.

"Remember when we met before our first chuunin exam?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Of course."

"Well, I still think you're a shy dark weirdo." Naruto told her.

"Ah…I understand." Hinata said, standing up so she could go cry alone. By the way he had been talking, she thought that it was possible he returned her feelings…but it looked as though he was just being a good friend, like he was to everyone.

Naruto put his hands on Hinata's shoulders, turning her to face him, "But now I'm sure: that's definitely the kind of person I like." He told her softly, softly kissing her cheek.

Hinata blushed, the man of her dreams had finally noticed her. Hell, forget noticed, he had _kissed _her. Hinata suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss, this one on the lips.

"I never knew you to be this bold." Naruto said when they parted.

"I never thought you'd notice me." Hinata countered.

"I'm so sorry for that." Naruto's smile dropped for a moment, "How can you ever forgive me?" Naruto asked.

"Because I love you." Hinata answered simply.

"Wait a minute, all those times your face was red when I saw you, you were blushing because you liked me?" Naruto realized in a flash of insight.

Hinata nodded, allowing a small smile to grace her face.

"This explains a lot of things…" Naruto mused.

Hinata laughed, "So…"

"Hmm?" Naruto looked at her.

"Well, we're sitting under the full moon at my house, it's late, and you just realized I liked you. What are we going to do?"

Naruto suddenly jumped up, "The ramen's still on the stove!" He exclaimed, turning to run.

Hinata caught him mid-turn, bringing him in for a passionate kiss.

"Well, you have plenty of ramen; I'm sure it won't matter if it burns." Naruto said afterwards.

"I thought you'd see it my way." Hinata said, smiling.

"As you said, we've got a lot of time. I think I've got quite a few years to catch up on."

Hinata kissed him again, 'I could get used to this…"

"Yeah, we can catch up anytime; I guess we could-"

Hinata cut off his statement with a kiss.

"My thoughts exactly." Naruto grinned, going in for another kiss.

Hinata sighed, now _this _was the perfect end of the perfect day.

A/N: Wow, that was loooong. I hope you found everything to your satisfaction. I'm not sure how soon the sequel will come out, but I do know it will be more focused on shikatem, in case any of you are interested. Please drop me a review; I'd love to hear everyone's thought's on the conclusion of A Strange Meeting.


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